The Closer, Dave Chappelle's new Netflix special, has kicked off a firestorm of controversy over accusations of being transphobic. Chappelle rose to prominence in the early 2000s when his sketch show Chappelle's Show became a comedy sensation. After a dramatic exit from the public eye, he returned to the spotlight with a string of Netflix specials starting in 2017. All of Dave Chappelle's comedy specials have dealt with highly sensitive subject matter, and while many have drawn criticism, none of them received the level of backlash generated by The Closer.
Chappelle is known for his irreverent style, but he has a particularly turbulent history with his use of the LGBTQ+ community as a subject for humor and joke punchlines. His previous Netflix special, Sticks & Stones, was met with disapproval over jokes that some felt unfairly targeted an already marginalized group, such as derisively referring to the broader queer community as "the alphabet people." In The Closer, Chappelle makes multiple references to his controversial track record with this subject, doubling down on a stance that has been viewed as harmful in the past.
In The Closer, Chappelle's treatment of the subject matter is especially coarse. While done in a tongue-in-cheek way, Chappelle playfully refers to himself as transphobic and gleefully employs offensive epithets as ironic punchlines. He ends the special with a somber story about a transgender comedian and friend who died by suicide, something he appears to attribute in part to their online harassment after having voiced support for him during the backlash caused by Chappelle's previous Netflix special. He follows the story with a request to the LGBTQ+ community to "stop punching down at my people," with "my people" referring to comedians. Chappelle flips what the queer community has asked of him and uses it to make himself, the comedian, the oppressed party. It's no surprise that the blunt, loaded statement has provoked outrage.
Indeed, The Closer almost seems to court outrage, with Chappelle daring viewers to be upset. One joke that has gotten particular focus was when he talked about rapper DaBaby, who received public backlash and was dropped from a few music festivals after making homophobic comments this past July, and compared it to a 2018 incident where DaBaby was involved in an altercation in a Walmart in which another Black man was killed. Chappelle commented that DaBaby "punched the LGBTQ community right in the AIDS" before commenting that "In our country, you can shoot and kill a n*****, but you better not hurt a gay person's feelings." (It should be noted that DaBaby was defending himself and his family against two men who tried to rob him.)
Chappelle has made a career of setting up deeply uncomfortable jokes in order to make a valid, broader point. But in The Closer, he repeatedly pits the marginalized LGBTQ+ community against the marginalized Black community, implying that race always trumps all. Chappelle frames the fight for progress as a zero-sum game, sending the message that because the LGBTQ+ community has gained more rights and support, the Black community loses out. He continually punches down, not up, and as a result, The Closer has received swift backlash from LGBTQ+ community leaders and viewers alike, even garnering calls for Netflix to pull the special. Jaclyn Moore, the producer of Dear White People who is herself transgender, has even come out saying she will no longer work with Netflix due to their decision to release the special.
With The Closer, Chappelle is playing with fire and he knows it. It's not the first time Chappelle has garnered criticism for his commentary about the LGBTQ+ community, but it's the first time it felt like there was real anger behind the homophobic and transphobic jokes rather than thoughtlessness and it's easy to come away from the special feeling that it's purposely antagonistic. In the past, Dave Chappelle has been able to discuss sensitive topics to make meaningful observations about complicated subjects. For many, The Closer fails to find that balance.