Andrew Yang jumped in to defend Dave Chappelle from the press and students who criticized the comic for his blunt exchange with attendees of his former high school.
The former New York City mayoral candidate tweeted in support of the controversial comedian after the media covered an exchange between Chappelle and students at Washington, D.C.’s Duke Ellington School of the Arts, Chappelle’s alma mater.
“I was endorsed by a number of celebrities,” tweeted Yang. “Dave Chappelle is the only one who came to Iowa and South Carolina to perform on my behalf — with proceeds going to the campaign — and even made phone calls and hung out with staff. He did it because he wants to help people. Great guy.”
He then directed his attention to recent reporting on Chappelle: “The press hit job on his visiting his high school is awful. Successful alum who fundraises for school returns, speaks to students, and gives everyone a free meal for Thanksgiving. But of course, in 2021, an obvious positive gesture is framed negatively in the media.”
BETO O’ROURKE RAISES $2M IN 24 HOURS FOR LONG-SHOT GUBERNATORIAL BID. WILL IT HELP?
The press hit job on his visiting his high school is awful. Successful alum who fundraises for school returns, speaks to students and gives everyone a free meal for Thanksgiving. But of course in 2021 an obvious positive gesture is framed negatively in the media.
— Andrew Yang?⬆️?? (@AndrewYang) November 26, 2021
Approximately 580 students gathered at the school to hear Chappelle discuss the controversy surrounding his Netflix special The Closer. Several students approached the mic to deride Chappelle, accusing him of mishandling the response to his transgender-related jokes in the special.
One student called Chappelle a “bigot,” saying, “I’m 16 and I think you’re childish, you handled it like a child.” Chappelle responded to the student, “I don’t believe you could make one of the decisions I have to make on a given day.”
At one point, one student shouted, “Your comedy kills,” and Chappelle shouted back, “N****** are killed every day.” Some parents were unhappy that Chappelle used the racial slur at the event.
Chappelle’s spokeswoman, Carla Sims, told Politico that “they are complaining that he talked and said the N-word. If anything, Dave is putting the school on the map.”
Chappelle also handed out 600 Thanksgiving meals to families alongside tickets to his new film Untitled.
A spokesperson for the school claimed that most students were supportive of Chappelle. The school had initially planned to name a theater after him; however, it delayed that decision until spring 2022 due to the controversies surrounding The Closer.
Yang has defended Chappelle’s remarks in the past. “I think we should cut artists a very, very wide berth in terms of the way they decide to express themselves and create,” the former businessman told Hill.TV’s Rising in October.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM THE WASHINGTON EXAMINER
“The fact is, we are getting inflamed against each other,” Yang continued. “We’re attacking people for having different points of view or expressing themselves in a way that upsets, maybe a subset of us. And that’s, to be, something that we should be more open about it, what should be an open and free society.”
Chappelle has regularly returned to Duke Ellington high school to provide moral and financial support for the school and gave the commencement speech in 2015.
