Roughly four months after he sparked outrage over a number of queer-themed jokes in his Netflix special The Closer, comedian Dave Chappelle is once again on the receiving end of intense, online criticism. His comedy has nothing to do with it this time.
On Tuesday, the town council of Yellow Springs, Ohio — where Chappelle resides — voted down its own plan to construct affordable housing on a 53-acre lot. Chappelle is credited with helping to kill the plan by threatening to leave, and take his money with him, if it passed.
Chappelle has fought against the plan for months, telling the city council in December, “Obviously I live behind the development, or the proposed development. I do have many business interests in town. I’ve invested millions of dollars in town. If you push this thing through, what I’m investing in is no longer applicable.”
He doubled down on his threat this week, appearing at a city council meeting and saying, “I am not bluffing, I will take it all off the table.”
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Dave Chappelle was so angry that a housing project had an affordable component that he threatened to pull all his business investments out of the town, successfully reverting the project to just luxury single family homes pic.twitter.com/R1xhuXaNxT
— Armand Domalewski (@ArmandDoma) February 9, 2022
Chappelle reportedly plans to open a restaurant and a comedy club in the town.
Here’s how Twitter is reacting:
oh hey, since the transphobia wasn't a dealbreaker maybe people will stop liking dave chappelle now that he's killing affordable housing in his neighborhood https://t.co/XV1x93lfBT
— Spikevax Milligan (@supership79) February 9, 2022
Dave Chappelle just did what all rich people do. Only he was stupid enough to do it in public instead of behind closed doors like the other assholes. https://t.co/8i3HwamLQb
— What Would Ripley Do? (@MercurialMiss) February 9, 2022
Who had 'Dave Chappelle cancels affordable housing' on their 2022 bingo card? https://t.co/lNeJ2ljZ5Z
— Yvette d’Entremont (@TheSciBabe) February 9, 2022
So in addition to being a transphobe, Dave Chappelle is also a NIMBY.
Here he is threatening to take his businesses elsewhere over a proposal that would have built $65 million dollars of affordable housing.
The housing plan died in a 2-2 vote after this.https://t.co/QihFtvRkKO
— ????Spacedad – Sakuga Salaryman???? (@SuperSpacedad) February 9, 2022
damn dave chappelle just keeps sucking worse and worse
its hard to be less likable than james corden but here we go https://t.co/CAiZSeCSf4
— godspeed you! porksweats hog (@porksweats1) February 9, 2022
Dave Chappelle coming out as a bad person is one of the more depressing elements of the last year, as a former Chappelle fan. https://t.co/rvdZvXxsEE
— Sam Hays (@WichitaChiefSam) February 9, 2022
Dave Chappelle really spitting fire and speaking truth to power — by threatening to take his millions away from a small town if it provides affordable housing to working-class people. https://t.co/V1wVfBbUcn
— Justin Baragona (@justinbaragona) February 9, 2022
Dave Chappelle when poor people threaten to lower his property value pic.twitter.com/cJCoPPGqxi
— tim?buff-arm-emoji enthusiast? (@PostinMonkey) February 9, 2022
Dave Chappelle will not rest until every last person has found something to dislike about him.
— John Gennaro (@johnmgennaro) February 9, 2022
Invader7
A total A-hole LOSER. A rich black man , who is BIGOTED & DISCRIMNATING against lower income / people of color…Now that’s F’ed up !!! He’s shown his TRUE colors and they’re UGLY..
James Hart
This doesn’t surprise me.
Ironic: Rich liberals who claim to support the poor never want them living next door. Just like they oppose walls on our southern border, and they oppose gun ownership, while they are protected by armed guards and live behind tall walls that surround their estates.
How many affordable housing projects do you know of in Beverly Hills, Sands Point, Palm Beach, Scarsdale, or next door to the Bidens, the Pelosis, Oprah and the Obamas? Answer: NONE!
barryaksarben
James Hart – you are a damned joke and and idiot. Do you honestly think Mitch McConnel has a low cost housing ANYWHERE near him and dont get us started on Trump who was sued and lost to the federal government since he refused to rent to ANY poc. And who says Chappelle is liberal with his anti trans stance he is more likely to be a conservative – a member of your so called big tent. You can put him in front at the next trump speech. go away you troll, you incel virgin
James Hart
barryaksarben:
Clearly, my comments went right over your head.
I’m sure the Republicans don’t want affordable housing next door, but they’re honest about it. On the other hand, the liberal Democrats PRETEND to care about the poor and downtrodden, but they could care less about them, and they certainly don’t want them next door. That’s called HYPOCRISY!
Cam
Right wing trolls like @James Hart always desperately try to scream that somebody is a “Liberal” to hide the fact that they are here to shill for bigoted conservatives.
Chapelle has been attacking trans people, attacking people for being “Woke” etc… and is against affordable homes for people. The guy is right wing, but cute that you think just because he is Black you can get away with lying about his politics.
OrchidIslander
Knee jerk reactions seldom look good in retrospect. Never fails to amaze that if a black person is the news maker, especially in a less than flattering way, it becomes about “black,” but never does race rear its head when it is a white protagonist. Developers selling “affordable housing” when only 3 units out of 143 are “affordable” are a bait and switch that many of us have seen before.
The internet is not just a place to vent and showcase one’s ignorance, it is also a place for research:
“Dave Chappelle didn’t kill affordable housing. Concerned residents and a responding Village Council ‘killed’ a half-baked plan which never actually offered affordable housing,” a spokesperson tells Yahoo Entertainment. “Without question, Dave Chappelle cares about Yellow Springs. He’s sewn into the fabric of the Village. The passion with which he delivered his comments during the Village Council meeting was just as evident as when he fought to create living-wage jobs with his famed ‘Summer Camp’ for residents during the height of the COVID pandemic.
“Neither Dave nor his neighbors are against affordable housing, however, they are against the poorly vetted, cookie-cutter, sprawl-style development deal which has little regard for the community, culture and infrastructure of the Village,” the statement continues.
“The whole development deal, cloaked as an affordable housing plan, is anything but affordable. Three out of 143 lots would have been for ‘future’ affordable housing. The rest of the homes were to be priced between $250k and upwards of $600k. In Yellow Springs, and in many other places, that is not considered affordable housing. Instead, it’s an accelerant on the homogenization of Yellow Springs,” the rep concludes.
Fahd
Granted it is more common in California, but Chappelle wouldn´t be the first ¨celebrity” who had a NIMBY (not in my backyard) reaction to a development of some sort. Look how Caitlyn Jenner feels about the homeless.
Given the person Chappelle has become, this can’t be surprising to too many people.
Too bad the city council caved into the rich bully. You know whatever he promises has a slim chance of materializing.
I hope the State of Ohio, which probably has their own laws about including affordable housing in developments, sues the city in question for not going forward with the development. Maybe Chapelle can be drawn into the litigation.
Polaro
Very disappointing.
Jaquelope
Wouldn’t it be ironic if Chappelle lost all his money and needed to have some affordable housing, and to be told, “We wanted some, but you said ‘no’, so you can go pound sand.”
SamB
Good for him. Prime land shouldn’t be for affordable housing.
DarkZephyr
You are just an all around villain, aren’t you?
SamB
DarkZ: In theory it’s a great idea. Mix up housing accommodations and the home proud ideal will spread to the whole neighborhood. In reality it doesn’t work that way because people are being taught that they deserve a nice apartment in a good area even if they’re not working. So the people who were told that they deserve this, don’t take care of the property as the person who earned it. There are, of course, outliers, but unfortunately it’s too far and few between to make a real difference. Answer me this, you worked hard and got yourself a little house, perfect for what you need. After you move in, they want to turn the house next to yours into a criminal halfway house… would you be happy with that?
DarkZephyr
We aren’t talking about criminals, so why would you ask me that? Would I have a problem with working class families moving in near me if I were rich? Nope. We’re talking about “affordable housing” not “free housing” or even “Low income housing”. This would benefit the *working class*. And they are CALLED “the working class” because they WORK.
SamB
DarkZ: My point is where do you draw the line? You’re ok with low income family but not criminals. What about turning the house next to yours into a rooming house where people rent a bedroom and they all share the kitchen/bathroom? From what you said is lower income housing ok for you, but you wouldn’t want a welfare family living next to you?
He wasn’t the only person in that town opposed to it, other residents didn’t like the idea either. And there are other reasons for the pushback such as traffic flow, a proposed homeowners association and questions about water management (that’s from an online article).
Cam
Awww, the right wing troll is back on a thread that isn’t about one of the Trump family. Did you get lost sweetie?
DarkZephyr
“Where do you draw the line”.
Do you read what you type?? Do you have any idea what a heartless snob you come off sounding like? Working class people aren’t the start of some downward spiral into meth addicts, for crying out loud.
And no, I would NOT have a problem with welfare families living next to me. I am not LIKE you and snobby self agrandized pr*cks like Chappelle. You know, these people he’s turning his nose up at are the ones who GOT him where he is, with their fandom, support and MONEY. So screw him. I wasn’t even that worked up over his comedy routine. I thought it was in very poor taste and I personally didn’t find it that funny, but I wasn’t ready to cancel him over it or boycott Netflix, etc. But THIS crap has killed ANY respect I had for the arrogant, selfish $@%#er. He really went up there and bullied them with his money and clout that he wouldn’t have ANY of without his fandom, which is made up primarily of the working class. He disgusts me.
SamB
DarkZ: Working class people is a pretty broad term, it could mean anything from a fast food worker to a plumber. Plumbers, electricians, many people in any type of construction could probably buy a house in the community that is being built in the town Chappelle lives in. I believe the houses start at $300,000 which is not cheap, but not that expensive either. So there is a big portion of his “working class” fan base that will be ok buying a house there if they so choose.
More importantly is that Chappelle does not owe his fans anything. He provided a product, people liked it and bought it, end of story.
Cam
@SamB
That’s funny, so he doesn’t owe his fans anything and can do what he wants, but then when people said they didn’t like his show and weren’t going to watch it and complained about it you said they were attacking his free speech.
Funny how when it’s a right winger you change your rules.
Kangol2
I decided to look this up because I was curious about what this article meant by “affordable housing.” Note that it doesn’t say “low income” or “Section 8” housing, or describe housing “projects”; it says “affordable.” As it turns out, rich NIMBY troll Dave Chappelle actually did help kill what would have been “affordable”–for the vast majority of people in this area and in the US–housing by pulling rank and threatening to withdraw investments in the area.
From the Dayton Daily News (Eileen McCrory, Feb 8, 2022):
“That means the zoning reverts to what was previously approved, with 143 single-family homes on the lot, with the homes starting at about $300,000, according to village documents. The village annexed about 34 acres of the land into the village last summer.
The development that council voted on Monday night would have included 64 single-family homes, 52 duplexes and 24 townhomes with an additional 1.75 acres to be donated to the community for affordable housing to be built later.”
So he killed the opportunity for duplexes and townhomes, neither of which should be such a big issue, and which would have created slightly more neighborhood density, in favor of single family homes that would be out of reach for a sizable portion of the people in Yellow Springs, where the median income is $71,379 (as of 2010) and 15.1% of individuals were living under the poverty line.
And so people know, Yellow Springs has an amazing history as a progressive town in a conservative County. A number of free Black people settled there before the Civil War; one ex-enslaved Black man donated land to provided for poor widows and the elderly; it’s the home of Antioch, very progressive institution (there have been several version of the college); and it also was one of the first villages in Ohio and tiniest municipalities in the US to legislate protections for LGBTQ people. Chappelle’s actions run counter to that village and its traditions.
Prax07
No one Deserves an affordable, nice place to live if they can’t/won’t maintain it. I’ve seen low income affordable housing tanked by the people that received it. I’ve seen low income renters completely destroy property. I’ve seen decent, respectful, respectable neighbors forced out by trash. Go Dave.
Fname Optional Lname
So al the elderly who live on social security should be in homeless shelters? All the disabled some of who worked hard until the carpet was ripped up from underneath them should live in tents and piss in the streets? The stigma you are attaching to the poor is so very Trumpian. It’s the same mentality he expressed in the many videos where he is screaming about how the locals who live in a town where he wants to develop live in houses he deems “eyesores” and should be demolished. It’s ugliness at it’s core. Pure Ignorance.
Manray
You’re low trash. Hope you and up homeless so we can.spit on you
LegionKeign
I got news for you, missy, I live in a neighborhood where the starting price for a home is $350,000.00 and know what…a bunch of white trash assholes moved in and turned their driveways and front yards into working garages where they fix their jack’d up trucks.
Ours was a nice quite neighborhood of many ethnicities and now it looks like shit.
So you can shove your prejudices.
Cam
Interesting how you are assuming somebody who could afford a $200,000 home wouldn’t maintain it. I see the Republican hatred of anyone who isn’t super wealthy is alive and well.
inbama
The strength of the gay movement was that it was not ideological – supporting gay rights was all that was necessary.
Until now.
Integrating New York City’s police force was a major triumph for LGB activists, but in last year’s Pride March, our gay and lesbian brothers and sisters in blue were banned from participating.
Intersectionality has resulted in a movement that’s just about everything EXCEPT being gay.
LeBlevsez
No one was banned from participating. Police uniforms were banned.
Cam
Translation:
the troll account is desperately trying to deflect from Chapelle attacking the idea of affordable housing because it exposes that his attacks on Trans people wasn’t a one off.
Kangol2
Are you completely out of your mind, “inbama”? Did you seriously type the nonsense that “the strength of the gay movement was that it was not ideological – supporting gay rights was all that was necessary”?
You clearly have NO idea of the history of the gay rights movement, in the US or anywhere. It very much was ideological, nearly all of the early advocates came from the liberal Left (the Mattachine Society people, advocates in Philadelphia, DC, Boston etc.) or the radical Left (cf. the Gay Activists Alliance), etc. Many of the people pushing for gay rights and gay equality also were strong advocates for civil rights and Black equality, for women’s rights’, the labor movement, and more.
Your fantasy about the gay rights movement is just that. And the gay rights advocates also heavily criticized the police, who have had a long history of enacting and enforcing the oppression of gay/LGBTQ people. A long history, including harassment, entrapment, brutality, not taking anti-gay violence seriously, and more.
inbama
@Kangol2
No, I am not out of my mind.
With that insulting comment, you have just proved my point – your allegiance is to your leftist brethren and not to gays and lesbians.
inbama
@LeBlevsez
For years that Archdiocese of New York banned ILGO (Irish Lesbian and Gay Organization) using the same ruse – they can march, they just can’t carry any banner saying who they are. The action by the Archdiocese was rightly called out as anti-gay.
Gay and lesbian cops – not permitted to march together in uniform – are similarly banned.
It’s anti- cop.
It’s anti-gay.
Cam
@inbama
Wow, sweetie, you’re just as bad at trolling under this screename as you are under all your others. I love the B.S. comment that “”””Waaaaah, I feel insulted, therefore you are wrong”””” attempt.
I think I remember that on an episode of Judge Judy where somebody’s reasoning was that since the person they owed money to called them a name, they didn’t owe them money anymore.
It failed on the show just like your comment failed here.
BarryM
Inbama:
You are correct.
I always thought that gays who supported gay equality were my brothers and sisters. Now, there’s a left-wing litmus test for members of the gay community. Gay liberals, socialists, capitalists, conservatives, libertarians, Democrats, and Republicans were considered compatriots if they wholeheartedly supported gay rights. I guess that’s changed.
This only splits the community. United we stand and divided we fall.
LeBlevsez
inbama – You rail against “intersectionality” and then insist on intersecting Pride and policing. Why not accuse the police of being anti-cop because they don’t have their own parade? Further, the uniform ban isn’t anti-cop. It’s anti misconduct. Police unions routinely defend brutality instead of trying to excise the rotten apples. You wanna come to my house? Don’t bring the slob that’s stinking up yours.
inbama
@LeBlevsez
That you would use a Pride march to smear gay and lesbian cops shows how little you feel for your LGB brothers and sisters.
I stand with LGB people first, last and always.
Like Queerty’s slogan goes: “No agenda but the gay one.”
LeBlevsez
inbama – We’ve now come full circle. I see it has made you dizzy.
inbama
Why are you so insulting to gay men?
Maybe you’re just Q or one of the pluses.
sfhairy
So, everyone’s apparently pissed off at him for this, but here I am, not pissed off at him, so quite clearly, your title is hyperbole.
mastik8
Doesn’t this actually prove that what’s happening isn’t about race, orientation, religion, identity, etc. but about class. A poor black boy grows up, becomes a successful comedian, makes lots of money and then behaves exactly like everyone else in his class. I think someone referenced it already but the uber-liberals in Palo Alto voted against an affordable housing project for the elderly in their neighborhood for the same reasons. Unadulterated NIMBYism. Not only did they get a pass on it but they are still big, big donors to the DNC and consider themselves card carrying liberals. Of course, our arguing about this as we are means we aren’t discussing it as a class issue – which is exactly what they want. Regardless of your race, creed, color, identity, or orientation once you enter that class your allegiance lies with it. Ru Paul was fracking on his land. Many sports figures that descended from slaves have no problem with slaves in China and elsewhere making the products that help them get rich. Just ask Lebron James.
Kangol2
David Chappelle did not grow up a “poor Black boy.” UGH.
He is the son of two professors! His father was a dean and professor, and his mother was a minister, professor and even worked as an aide to the great Congolese liberation figure Patrice Lumumba.
He grew up upper middle class. Stop assuming all Black people are poor. Ignorance is not bliss!
And in the US, race, class, gender, etc. always intersect when it comes to issues like this.
mastik8
@Kangol2 – I stand corrected. Thank you for the clarification. Although I believe my point still stands as regards class. Usually but not always, regardless of your background when you get to a certain level your allegiance is to that class not your background. Your class becomes your tribe. LeBron James doesn’t care that slaves are making his sneakers although he descends from slaves. Having said that I do not agree with what he is doing nor do I agree that holding that town hostage to his beliefs or desires is very honorable. Is it within his rights and legal? Yes. Honorable? No.
Jim
“Man,” said the Ghost, . . . Will you decide what men shall live, what men shall die? It may be, that in the sight of Heaven, you are more worthless and less fit to live than millions like this poor man’s child. Oh God! to hear the Insect on the leaf pronouncing on the too much life among his hungry brothers in the dust!”
whateverokok
HUH? Speak freaking English. None of us of here speak whatever the he– kind of language you’re speaking. Getting really tired of these illegal aliens coming here and not learning our language. Go back to Pluto, FOOL!
LeBlevsez
whateverokok – That’s a quotation from Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”. Hard to get more English than that.
Challenge: figure out what it means.
Kangol2
One thing I’m surprised no one has brought up is that Yellow Springs apparently annexed the land for this development by a private developer. So the public tax monies of people who’d qualify for affordable housing were used 1) to purchase this land for private purposes and 2) are going to subsidize a private development they cannot afford, i.e. from which they are economically excluded. It’s both unethical and outrageous though it happens all the time.
Another name for this is socialism for the rich, since home ownership is one of the most common assets many Americans can lay claim to, even if they lack other assets, including equities (stocks, bonds, ownership shares in businesses, other real estate, etc.). Being excluded from owning a home or affordable rent makes it that much more difficult to build wealth, yet here wealth transfer is being prioritized in favor of those who already have it, using public money to start with!
On top of this, a multimillionaire’s threats are reinforcing this grossly unfair, inequitable situation. Where are the people always screaming about tax fairness? Poor and working class people pay proportionally far more in taxes than people like Dave Chappelle, and as we’ve witnessed now for the last 50 years, if you gut the middle class and working classes you set the stage for a deeply unequal society AND crime AND social breakdown.
boymikefl
Damn, he don’t like his own people. Hmmm, what do we call that? Oh, racist! He better look in the mirror.
Kangol2
Yellow Springs, Ohio is 78% White; surrounding Greene County is 86.4% White. Why do you assume the only or main people moving into affordable housing would be Black? You do realize there are millions of poor, working-class and middle-class, non-rich White people in Ohio and across the US, no?
mastik8
Chappelle was actually defending a neighborhood he has roots in against a developer that didn’t really care. “The whole development deal, cloaked as an affordable housing plan, is anything but affordable. Three out of 143 lots would have been for ‘future’ affordable housing. The rest of the homes were to be priced between $250k and upwards of $600k. In Yellow Springs, and in many other places, that is not considered affordable housing. Instead, it’s an accelerant on the homogenization of Yellow Springs”.