Dave Chappelle slams protesters at his shows: ‘They want to be feared’
Luke Gentile
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Comedy legend Dave Chappelle slammed those protesting his shows on Tuesday as violent activists who “want to be feared.”
“These were grown people of various genders and gender identities,” Chappelle said on his podcast The Midnight Miracle. “They threw eggs. They threw eggs at the people who were lined up to see the show.”
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“One lady was so mad with the protesters, she picked up a police barricade. … You ever seen one? They look like a bike rack. This b**** picked that barricade up by herself and threw it at the crowd. I gotta tell you, it’s an amazing feat of strength for a woman.”
Protesters have rallied against Chappelle for his jokes regarding the LGBT community, and many have called him “transphobic.”
The incident the 49-year-old comedian referenced took place in July after he had to move his Minneapolis show to the Varsity Theater after the initial venue, First Avenue, canceled his show “hours” before he was set to take the stage.
“I guess apparently they had made a pledge to the public at large that they would make their club a safe space for all people, and that they would ban anything they deemed transphobic,” Chappelle said about First Avenue. “This is a wild stance for an artistic venue to take, especially one that’s historically a punk rock venue.”
One factor that led to the venue’s actions was the backlash Chappelle faced for his jokes in his 2021 Netflix special The Closer, according to a report.
After it was released, at least 30 Netflix employees walked out of the company’s Los Angeles office in protest.
Chappelle maintains that none of his fans committed any acts of violence at his Minnesota show.
“When I walked onstage, it was a huge ovation because suddenly going to see a comedy show was this huge act of defiance,” he said. “I don’t think anyone had any malicious intent. In fact, one of the things that these people, the trans and their surrogates, always say is that my jokes are somehow gonna be the root cause of some impending violence that they feel like is inevitable for my jokes.”
“But, I gotta tell you, as abrasive as they were, the way they were protesting, throwing eggs at people, throwing barricades, cussing, and screaming, nobody beat ’em up. In fact, the people in the crowd would just say, ‘We love you. Like what are you talking about?'”
When these activists become upset by his jokes, they are intentionally masking the intent behind his work, Chappelle said.
“Now, I have a belief that the gay community is not monolithic, and I think that, in regards to me, that there’s probably a variety of opinions throughout that,” he said. “But, there’s a thing they do where they deliberately obscure what I think they believe is the intent of my work to make a moment of it that I don’t know that the work necessarily merits.”
“I’m not even mad that they take issue with my work. Good, fine. Who cares? What I take issue with is the idea that because they don’t like it, I’m not allowed to say it.”
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When all is said and done, these demonstrators want to be “feared,” according to Chappelle.
“Trying to silence a person like me, I don’t think it has anything to do with being loved,” he said. “They want to be feared. ‘If you say this, then we will punish you. We’ll come to First Avenue and f*** your show up, and we’ll come to the Varsity Theater and f*** your show up.’ And they just don’t get to do that.”