The friendship between Dave Chappelle and Jon Stewart goes back to their days working in Comedy Central together. In fact, while honoring Dave when he was presented with the Mark Twain award a couple of years back Jon Stewart thanked Dave for leaving Comedy Central, because that meant he took the big payday! Now Stewart is going to bat for Dave as Chappelle continues to be hit with criticism, particularly from the trans community. Over the comments that he made in his last Netflix comedy special, “The Closer”.
Why The Comments Have Had Such An Impact
His latest Netflix special wasn’t the first time that Dave Chappelle has made jokes at the expense of the trans community. It seems like feeling repeatedly attacked by the comedian is the real reason why the community has gone into such an uproar. The comments that Dave made were actually meant as a way to defend Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling of all people. He touched the issue of gender, and that’s where things blew up. Dave mentions in the special,
“They canceled JK Rowling — my God. Effectually, she said gender was fact, the trans community got mad as s–t, they started calling her a TERF … I’m Team TERF,”
Jon Stewart Is Going To Bat For Dave
To this point, Dave Chappelle has not issued any type of apology for the comments that he made in the special. Judging from how Dave has conducted himself throughout his career, it’s highly unlikely that he will. Jon Stewart on the other hand does seem to want to put out an apology on Dave’s behalf to try and calm the mob. The former Daily Show host talked to TMZ about Dave’s comments saying,
“If it is [hurtful], it’s certainly unintentional … He’s really a good man.”
Potentially Looking At The Positive Side of The Issue
In his effort to defend Dave, Stewart also mentioned that this whole uproar that has been caused by Chappelle’s comments could actually be a good thing. In the sense that it could potentially spark a conversation that could help everyone get on the same page. Stewart mentioned,
“Look, if this spurs a conversation where people get more on the same page in terms of understanding, that’d be great, but I know his intention is never hurtful — like, he’s just not that kind of person,”
Dave’s Willing to Talk
Yesterday reports surfaced that Dave Chappelle was actually willing to meet with the disgruntled Netflix employees. His reps told TMZ that Dave would be willing to have a conversation if the transgender Netflix employees would reach out to him in a peaceful manner. As far as a public apology goes that would seem rather unlikely. Furthermore, backing down could really hurt Dave’s brand. Without a doubt though this last special caused so much controversy that it probably made more people watch. Any publicity is good publicity, and so far Netflix has proven they do believe in that mantra!
