Dave Chappelle has been quite the topic of controversy over the past few years, but now the Netflix CEO has spoken out about Chappelle and his Netflix shows.
Keep scrolling to see what he said.
The Co-CEO of Netflix has spoken out about Dave Chappelle.
Scroll on to find out more…
Dave Chappelle is a stand-up comedian who found fame back in 2003 with his comedy sketch series, Chappelle’s Show.
From there, Chappelle’s comedy career continued to grow as he performed stand-up comedy across the US and later signed a deal with Netflix releasing 6 stand-up specials.
But over recent years, Chappelle has faced heavy criticism…
It came when his Netflix special, The Closer, was accused of being transphobic.
There were calls to have the special removed from the streaming service with some Netflix staff even walking out in protest.
But, the show stayed after the Netflix CEO, Ted Sarandos defended it.
Chappelle also made headlines earlier this year…
After someone ran on stage and attacked him during a performance.
The incident took place on May 3rd during Chappelle’s performance at the Hollywood Bowl in LA.
Chappelle was performing as part of the Netflix is a Joke festival when a man attacked him on stage, the BBC reports.
Footage shared on social media shows a man jumping on the stage and running into Chappelle.
Sharon Carpenter, a reporter who was at the show, watched the attack unfold and shared details about the incident on Twitter.
Recalling the attack, Carpenter wrote: “Dave Chappelle was just assaulted on stage at his Hollywood Bowl show.”
“He was finishing up his performance when a man ran on-stage and lunged at him knocking him to the floor. Security & his entourage then cornered the man as Dave joked about how him getting ‘stomped’ backstage.”
Fortunately, Chappelle was unharmed by the attack, though likely to be shook.
And the man was escorted off the stage…
In a follow-up tweet, Carpenter said that “Chris Rock and John Stewart were among the group of comedians” also performing at the show that night.
She claimed that “Jamie Foxx jumped onstage to help and make sure Dave was OK.”
It has also been alleged that moments after the incident, Chris Rock came onto the stage to make a joke about Will Smith, ABC News reports.
After Will Smith slapped Chris Rock at the Oscars back in March, Rock is said to have taken to the stage where he made a joke by asking if the attacker “was Will Smith?”
But, that wasn’t the only joke made about the incident…
After the man was removed, Chappelle made a joke about the incident and it has been heavily criticized…
Taking to Twitter to slam Chappelle, one person wrote: “I’m honestly so sick of @DaveChappelle’s hostility and hate against the trans community. It’s f***ing weird how obsessed he is with attacking trans people in his ‘jokes.'”
“Dave Chappelle really thinks using trans men as his punchline was a good idea. It isn’t, it’s f***ing hurtful and he is unfunny. Really unfunny. If you want funny, go to @colinmochrie cos he doesn’t use us as his punchline. He SUPPORTS us!” wrote another.
One Twitter user added: “Just watched the raw footage of Chappelle getting attacked and this transphobic f***face just had to make a joke at trans peoples expense after they get the dude off stage. Just totally f***ing despicable. F**k Dave Chappelle.”
While someone else tweeted: “I do not condone what happened to Dave Chappelle yesterday. But the fact that he immediately joked that the man who attacked him was trans demonstrates that he will use any excuse to promote anti-trans sentiment and violence.”
According to ABC News, Chappelle could be heard in footage telling the audience that the person was “a trans man.”
Now, the Co-CEO of Netflix has spoken out about Dave Chappelle.
Ted Sarandos, who became the streaming giant’s co-CEO in 2020, explained:
“We want something for everybody but everything’s not going to be for everybody.”
He then commented that Chappelle was a top comedian, and said:
“Nobody would say that what he does isn’t thoughtful or smart,” he said. “You just don’t agree with him.”
Do you agree?