Entertainment
Caitlyn Jenner defends Dave Chappelle over Netflix controversy citing ‘woke cancel culture’
Caitlyn Jenner has defended Dave Chappelle following backlash to his special (Picture: Getty)
Caitlyn Jenner has defended Dave Chappelle over the controversy surrounding the comedian’s Netflix special after he was accused of transphobia, saying that the backlash is ‘about woke cancel culture’.
Earlier this month, Chappelle’s stand-up comedy show The Closer launched on Netflix, quickly sparking criticism after he said that ‘gender is a fact’ and that he is ‘team Terf’ in the special, while expressing support for JK Rowling.
In a video shared on social media of a recent performance, Chappelle suggested that the backlash was down to ‘corporate interests and what I can say and what I cannot say’, urging people not to ‘blame the LGBTQ community for any of this’.
Jenner has since spoken out to back Chappelle, saying that in her opinion, the comedian is ‘100% right’.
‘This isn’t about the LGBTQ movement. It’s about woke cancel culture run amok, trying to silence free speech,’ the TV personality said.
‘We must never yield or bow to those who wish to stop us from speaking our minds,’ she added.
Jenner shared a clip of Chappelle’s recent performance addressing the controversy (Picture: Twitter)
In the statement Chappelle made in his recent performance – a short clip of which was shared by Jenner on Twitter – he said that if he had been invited to speak to trans employees at Netflix, ‘I would have accepted it’, adding: ‘Although I am confused about what we would be speaking about.’
Appearing unapologetic, he continued: ‘I said what I said, and boy, I heard what you said. My God, how could I not? You said you want a safe working environment at Netflix. It seems like I’m the only one who can’t go to the office anymore.’
The performer stressed that everyone he knows from the LGBT+ community ‘has been loving and supporting’, saying that while he is ‘willing to give an audience’ to the trans community, he refused to be ‘summoned’.
‘I am not bending to anybody’s demands. And if you want to meet with me, I’d be more than willing to, but I have some conditions,’ he said.
Following the criticism of Chappelle’s comedy special, Netflix was urged to remove it from the platform.
More: Netflix
One of the CEOs of Netflix admitted that he ‘screwed up’ with his response to the backlash, saying he should have ‘led with a lot more humanity’.
However, he added that viewers will sometimes come across things on Netflix that they ‘dislike’ or ‘find harmful’, stating that he doesn’t believe The Closer falls under the definition of hate speech and doesn’t think there have been ‘many calls’ for it to be pulled from the platform.
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