For whatever reason, Jon Stewart has decided to weigh in on the Dave Chappelle Netflix controversy and–surprise!–he’s coming to the transphobic comedian’s defense.
“He’s one of my favorite people on the planet,” Stewart told TMZ yesterday, “and he’s just a good, decent… You know, if there is any miscommunication, I’m sure that–I love that dude, like as a person. He’s warm and wise and all those things.”
Did you catch that, folx? Because Dave Chappelle is nice to Jon Stewart, a wealthy straight white cis male, that means everyone should cut him some slack for all the horrific things he’s said about LGBTQ, particularly trans, people.
According to Stewart, it’s all just one big “miscommunication.”
How about we take this to the next level?
Our newsletter is like a refreshing cocktail (or mocktail) of LGBTQ+ entertainment and pop culture, served up with a side of eye-candy.
“I know his intention is never hurtful,” Stewart continued. “He’s not that kinda person.”
Except Chappelle is that kinda person. It’s not like this is the first… or second… or third time he’s been under fire for expressing anti-LGBTQ sentiment in his comedy sets. It’s a pattern of his, and people are finally over it.
Our friend Henry Giardina at Into writes:
Hm, well, let’s take a look at that for a second: first of all, language has power. The idea that someone can be a fundamentally “good” person and use harmful language and stereotypes to actively harm and oppress others doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. It seems that Dave Chappelle indeed has spoken from his heart in “The Closer,” and his heart feels like trans women are pathetic and scary. So that’s…not great.
As for Chappelle, after initially digging in his heels, he now says he won’t make anymore jokes about trans people, or “transgenders” as his rep calls them.
“Dave stands by his art: No more jokes about transgenders until we can all laugh together,” his rep tells TMZ. “The streets are talking and Dave is listening. At some point, when everyone is open, I’m sure the communities will come together.”
Chappelle also indicated he would be open to talking with the trans community and Netflix about everything. He’s just waiting for the invitation.
But Ashlee Marie Preston, who helped organize the employee walkout at Netflix this week, says she has invited him sit down and to talk about the harm she and others believe he’s caused the LGBTQ community, but “Dave chose not to show up.”
Chappelle’s camp has accused Preston of making up the claims. They also didn’t offer any explanation for why Chappelle can’t be the first to extend the olive branch and initiate a meeting.
Graham Gremore is the Features Editor and a Staff Writer at Queerty. Follow him on Twitter @grahamgremore.
LumpyPillows
Eh. Another badly written opinion piece on Queerty. I need something else too do when I’m bored.
cliche guevara
Lumperino –
I’m so proud of you, we have only been working together for a few hours and your self awareness is growing by leaps and bounds. You do need something to do with your free time. Maybe sign up for that class in Logic?
Heywood Jablowme
@Lumpy: Your boredom is sad and weak! Lol
Cam
Translation: The troll account switched from it’s “Jim” screename to this one to feign boredom with an article pointing out that straight rich people stick together.
Your trolling, and your commenting on your own threads is sad and weak.
barryaksarben
ALWAYS the first to comment is the all ready exposed right wing troll. He must sit there at his computer impatiently finger tapping all fking day long just waiting to diminish anything any gay person says. HE thinks no one has figured him out but he is an idiot as this tired post proves without a date. Words do matter or none of us would bother to be on ANY comments sight. WORDS MATTER – like calling you and asshole troll
Man About Town
Well, you could spend some time learning how to spell “to”…
LumpyPillows
Ah, my groupies. Good to see you all. I feel validated. I’ve written several though provoking comments over time, and they almost never receive a rational reply that even bother to be responsive to the ideas presented. Glad to see this experiment in saying nothing proves you all are just argumentative and dismissible. I will never convince you that you are obnoxious, false-intellects, and easily-triggered tools of left-wing social engineering that will be the downfall of progressive policy. I am not a republican. I am gay. I am not some other account. But, I am bored with your nasty comments. So, I bid you all adieu.
Cam
Chapelle pushes the notion that bigotry or racism isn’t the fault of the racists and bigots, that the Black community can’t get complete civil rights because LGBTQ people are hogging some of limited rights that go around.
It’s the same as the billionaires who tell us, that the problem isn’t people like Jeff Bezos not paying his taxes, the REAL problem is the underpaid Wal Mart employee getting $150.00 in food stamps every month.
tomamundo
Perfect response!
barryaksarben
E X A C T L Y !
Doug
I’m sorry, but I’ve heard the Black community claiming the exact same thing several years ago when it came to Asians. There are minorities all over our country, including LGBT people… why does Chapelle think one minority has preference over another?
Observant
Ignore the smug condescendence from the naysayers, LP. You’re one of the few nuanced and well-reasoned commenters on this site.
Cam
Brand new screename, Defending the same old Troll account.
Hmmm, you’ve gotten a tiny bit more subtle in creating a separate post to back up your earlier comment. But you still aren’t subtle.
I’ve asked before but I guess my request is getting lost in Russia’s massive bureaucracy, please, please, PLEASE, tell Putin to send smarter trolls.
Heywood Jablowme
A quick Google search shows that Observant is not a “brand new screename” but has been posting on Queerty since 2019.
barryaksarben
OMG really? NO ONE BELIEVES THIS FOR ONE FKN MINUTE. LP
Jim
“I know his intention is never hurtful,” Stewart continued. “He’s not that kinda person
Yes he is that kind of person and Stewart should be ashamed of himself.
I’m tired of people hiding behind humor or “art” when they are narrow minded bigots.
mastik8
Meh. Stewart is as entitled to his opinion as the rest of us. I don’t need to agree with it nor does he need me to agree with it. The First Amendment protects his right to free speech but doesn’t protect him from the consequences of it.
Ken A.
There are no consequences. If it isn’t illegal, it’s legal. We have a right to agree or disagree but that is as far as it goes. We have no right to bully or harm those we disagree with. We’d all be up shits creek since there are those who disagree with you and me as well as everyone else.
mastik8
@Ken A. – I suppose the fun is in defining what “bully” and “harm” are and in that sense the fun never ends.
tjack47
So.
Jake123
Ugh can we move on from this please.
GlobeTrotter
Dear Queerty Editors,
Comedy featuring Trans folks is NOT the same as transphobia!
Criticizing Trans folks is NOT the same as transphobia!
Disagreeing with Trans orthodoxy is NOT the same as transphobia!
Good grief, just give it a rest already! Comedians have been roasting and making fun of Blacks, Jews, Asians, Lesbians, Gay men, politicians, the French, FOR DECADES NOW, and I can’t remember any of these groups ever organizing a boycott simply because they can’t laugh at themselves. It’s called COMEDY, i.e. a means of to criticizing using humor. Every single group is fair game – so why should Trans folks be exempt?
cliche guevara
Good point. Michael Richards went after black and Mexican Americans and it was a hoot … and by hoot I mean he complexity destroyed his career. And then Rosanne Barr decided to make racist jokes and that was a hoot too …. Anyone seen Rosanne around lately? Kathy Griffen made a joke about Trump and …. Well, I’m sure she is out there doing something.
All of this is to say, your memory may not be the best.
GlobeTrotter
@cliche guevara: Those are, for the most part, extremely rare exceptions to the rule. America has a very, VERY long history of using comedy to roast, criticize and satirize. Getting cancelled for telling jokes is actually a recent phenomena borne out of the PC movement. Now political correctness has morphed into an uncontrollable monster that seeks to suppress any opinion that deviates from prescribed doctrine – not even scientific facts are safe from cancellation. Gone are the days when people like Eddie Murphy would do a 30 minute bit on African Americans or effeminate gay men that had you doubled over in stitches.
So sad…
cliche guevara
Ignoring data that disagrees with what you want to believe is called conformation bias.
Fahd
When my neighbor used to have racist outbursts, his wife would come around later and tell people that he was actually a God-fearing man and did a lot of charity work. No one is all bad or good. Not a newsflash.
This shouldn’t be a popular contest; the content of Chappelle’s show is being rightfully criticized. It was a sloppy, inept decision by Netflix to let it through as is.
The Netflix board should replace the problematic executive leadership – they’ve made a mistake and have hurt people and damaged the Netflix brand.
dhmonarch89
I can’t stand Chapelle and don’t like what he said- BUT- you either believe in the First Amendment or you don’t.
dhmonarch89
And- YES- I know Netflix has the right to reject this… but- probably more people would protest a pro trans special than this one, so- if a majority wants that, do we bend to it? Just don’t watch or support the jerk’s career.
Dick Gozinia
I watched The Closer and thought it was funny, although not as funny as some of his earlier work. Then I read about all of this transphobic controversy so I watched it again. I still think it was funny. If you’re a super sensitive person you probably shouldn’t listen to comedians because most of their jokes are offensive to someone.
kcXanadu
“under fire for expressing anti-LGBTQ,” I thought it was an anti-trans comment? Why is it when things are going well it’s the “trans community?” Then when something bad happens it becomes an attack on the LGBTQI community? Don’t assume you can drag us all into it. I support the trans community but I wasn’t attacked. Trans people were. Let’s focus on helping them and not acting like the rest of us were somehow attacked as well. We are different for a reason. We are not the same. We don’t have the same issues. We are not going through the same things that trans people do, as they are going through what we go through. Also, I didn’t watch it but from what I’ve heard it was specific to the trans community. so…. #grainOfSalt
BLAKENOW
Whoever write this you are completely wrong and basically stupid copying and pasting op-eds.
There s no one way to perceive a comedian humor and if you think a comedian wants to ban trans people or is scared of them, you are clueless as a fake writer and need to go really go learn something.
you are from a generation that cannot read your own material before you press send.
Den
Looks like you are from that generation as well! It serves everyone to proofread. Try it sometime. And whether or not Chappelle’s jokes were transphobic or homophobic, or simply skewering another community in a non-hostile comedic way depends entirely on context.
nitejonboy
Freedom of speech does not exempt someone from the consequences of that speech, it just means they cannot be kept from saying it in the first place. There have been other comedians in the past who have made jokes that are just as offensive and it severely hurt their careers..so to act like Chappelle is some unique case and is being unfairly punished is ridiculous. It’s just getting more attention…but look at what happened to Kevin Hart, Roseanne Barr, Michael Richards,Kathy Griffin ( Kathy was destroyed temporarily, because now she’s had a massive comeback ),etc. etc….and just because someone is telling a joke doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t actually believe in what they are saying. Barr knew what she saying, Hart knew what he was saying…jokes are only jokes if they don’t involve a person’s actual beliefs….if they involve your actual beliefs and opinions and the are offensive or hate speech, then you are not immune from the consequence of your actions. I am not defending or bashing Chappelle, I am just saying no one has the right to bash the people who are offended and walking out at Netflix because freedom of speech is not freedom from consequence. And Chappelle has said many things like this in the past….what was it Maya Angelou said, when someone shows you who they are, believe them the first time. Comedians can’t always hide behind jokes. Particularly when it borders on hate speech.
Beanie16
By Jon and Dave’s work ethics then I guess N jokes and Jew jokes are all back on the table to tell again…
Den
As always, it depends on who is telling the joke, and what the intention is based on the context of the entire show. Lenny Bruce was legendary for the use of “obscene” language and stereotypes in his humor. But his intension to point out such things for critical observation (as opposed to simply getting cheap laughs at the expense of others) was clear. As was his desire to push first amendment rights which were seen differently at the time than they are today.
I have not seen Chappelle’s show, so cannot comment on his intention, but it is telling that he has been called out before.
GentlemanCaller
Unfortunately there are a lot of right-wing idiots for whom that’s basically the goal: they cloak their hate speech in “it’s just humor” or cite their right to free speech, as if that automatically supercedes anyone else’s rights, the same way they cloak their racisim, intolerance, homophobia, and religious bigotry in an American flag. We need to keep calling out bulies for what they are, and not be distracted by their own self-justifications. You’re absolutely right: Chappelle has a legal right to say the unfunny crap he says; at the same time, Netflix was under no obligation to give him a platform to say it, and people who find him unfunny are entitled to encourage boycotts. The right only likes our rights when they’re exercising them.
Creamsicle
Yes. Comics are free to joke about whatever they choose and audiences are free to either watch or walk away.
If a stand-up set is bad, then they take the punches and either adapt or don’t. But comics are motivated by what they find funny, otherwise their comedy will never be authentic. Kathy Griffin Bombed for 3 (or 5?) years straight when she started doing stand-up. It’s part of the ecosystem.
Chappelle built his following over decades. Others can try to take it away, but it doesn’t seem to be working. It’s been about a month since The Closer premiered and it’s still trending on Netflix’s most watched programs.
Even if he gets deplatformed, the man has become a legend among comics, when he walked away from his career in the aughts. There WILL be comedy fans who continue to support him in alternative venues because he draws a crowd.
Creamsicle
Both Stewart and Chapelle are great comics. They have comedic timing and structure that is hard to surpass.
If you disagree with their personal views or the subjects they choose for comedy, that’s your own business. Just do what Kathy Griffin, Margaret Cho, and Chelsea Handler say to their detractors and find someone else’s comedy to enjoy.
It’s pretty telling that Chapelle accurately predicted so many queer people would get up on arms about The Closer without ever watching or listening to the performance themselves, and rely on internet commentators (who profit from controversy) to summarize it for them.
The amount of coverage on the Netflix walkout also ironically proves Chappelle’s point about queer rights taking political priority in the national narrative. There are several major labor strikes and protests happening across the country right now, facing violence from management and shady tactics from courts. All the attention being paid to the Netflix walkout over a comedy special is attention that could be directed towards supporting the John Deere or Kellogg’s worker strikes.
John Deere has stripped healthcare coverage from strikers and hired scabs. But I guess getting upset by secondhand accounts about a comedy special are much more pressing than a boring old topic like income inequality and Right to Repair.