Netflix has quietly released a new Dave Chappelle special, capturing a speech he gave at his former high school on June 20, in which he declined the school’s honor of naming a theater after him.
The comedian caused controversy after his latest special, The Closer, featured jokes aimed at the transgender community. Many students at his alma mater, the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington DC, didn’t approve of this kind of humor, and told the comedian so during a heated question-and-answer session at the school in November.
Chapelle said the pushback “seriously hurt him” but has not apologized for his comments at the expense of transgender people.
The new special, titled What’s in a Name?, has Chappelle back at school – this time for a naming ceremony in his honor.
“Rather than putting my name on this theater, I want to convey my message to these students,” Chappelle said in his speech, which can be seen on Netflix.
At Chappelle’s request, the theater is now called the “Theatre of Artistic Freedom and Artistic Expression”.
Dave Chappelle won’t be naming his old high school’s theater after himself. Instead, at his request, it should be called “Theatre for Artistic Freedom and Expression”.
Chappelle’s new special, entitled What’s in a Name?, brings him back to school – this time for a naming ceremony in his honor.
Many believed the facility would be called the Dave Chappelle Theatre
Duke Ellington had planned to name the theater after Chappelle, his most notable alumni, because of his “continued dedication and service to the school.”
In his new special, Chappelle references his visit to the school in November, when the renaming ceremony was originally scheduled to take place, and claims the outcry from Duke Ellington’s students “seriously hurt me.”
“I got a lot of cold shots in the shop … but they hurt me that day,” Chappelle told the crowd, according to the USA Today and Washington Post columnist Josh Rogin.
He recalled how “a line” of students who criticized his behavior formed after he asked what he had done wrong.
But Chappelle also defended himself, calling the students “immature”: “The more you say I can’t say something, the more urgent it is for me to say it.”
‘It has nothing to do with what you say, I can’t say. It has everything to do with my right and freedom of artistic expression,” he continued.
‘[While the kids] said everything about gender…they didn’t say anything about art,” he explained.
Chapelle said he was “sincerely hurt” by the rejection of students after his first special, but has not apologized for his comments at the expense of transgender people
Chappelle has been a generous donor to the school over the years, reportedly donating $100,000 and one of its Emmy awards in 2017.
After the heated visit, Chappelle took to Instagram to challenge those who opposed the school’s plans to name a building after him.
“If you object to me receiving this honor, I urge you to donate to the school to note your objection,” he wrote. “If you are in favor of the theater being named ‘Chapelle’ I urge you to donate to the school and indicate your approval.”
Supporters of the comedian eventually donated more money to the challenge, leading many to believe the facility would be called the Dave Chappelle Theatre.
Chappelle has defended his controversial remarks, saying, “The more you say I can’t say something, the more urgent it is for me to say it.”
The controversial Netflix special was released last October, prompting hundreds of Netflix employees to leave work in protest and public outrage from the LGBTQ+ community.
During the special, Chappelle declared “gender is a fact” and joined Harry Potter author JK Rowling in addressing the push for some transgender rights, including the right to self-identification, and calling for trans women to be sent to women’s prisons or placed in domestic violence shelters.
He also joked about the anatomy of trans women in the Netflix special, saying they lacked real female reproductive organs and that instead of having menstrual blood, they had “beet juice.”
He argued that women today view trans women the same way black people view white women with black faces, noting that women are entitled to feel anger towards trans women since Caitlyn Jenner won Glamor magazine’s 2015 Woman of the Year award and the winner is.
The jokes he made prompted a backlash against the Ohio comedian, who says his documentary was pulled from film festivals and dropped by film distributors.
Dave Chappelle, Nicole Avant and Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos (right) speak backstage during the 36th Annual Rock & Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on October 30, 2021 in Cleveland, Ohio
Organizations including the National Black Justice Coalition and GLAAD condemned the jokes told in the special.
Chappelle’s jokes about the transgender community were backed by Netflix, with Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos defending the comedian in an internal email, saying, “We don’t allow titles on Netflix that aim to incite hatred or violence, and we don’t think The Closer crosses that line.”