Dave Chappelle slammed for “hypocrisy” in controversial Netflix special

Comedian Dave Chapelle has released a new Netflix standup special which has viewers bringing up his blatant hypocrisy.

Dave Chapelle, one of the biggest comedians currently working, is no stranger to controversies over his decades-long career.

The main source of controversy for the creator and star of Comedy Central’s Chapelle Show has been his jokes made towards the transgender community, some of which his last standup special faced a lot of heat for.

However, it seems like Chapelle’s latest special also touched on the trans community, though many viewers seemed to narrow in on his hypocrisy when it comes to punching down on a marginalized community.

Dave Chapelle’s standup viewers call out his career double standard

In Chapelle’s latest Netflix special, The Dreamer, the comedian wasted little time before making his first of many jokes mocking the plights of the trans community.

Chapelle opened the special by recalling a time when he went to visit Jim Carrey while he was filming the 1999 film Man on the Moon, a movie where Carrey famously went method on set while portraying comedian Andy Kaufman.

Chapelle went on to explain that he was “disappointed” while on set as Carrey would only speak to him as Kaufman, ending the story by saying “That’s how trans people make me feel.”

The comedian went on with the special, citing that he wouldn’t be “talking about those people” because they “weren’t worth the trouble,” but also claimed that he would continue to make jokes towards trans people at least ” three or four times” during the set and expressing how much he loved “punching down.”

People who watched The Dreamer had a lot of strong thoughts on Twitter, both positive and negative, but the loudest discourse coming from the special was many viewers pointing out Chapelle’s hypocrisy when it comes to attacking the trans community.

A lot of viewers pointed out how Chapelle retired from the world of comedy after leaving his self-named show after feeling like he was doing a sort of “blackface” as a lot of people who were watching The Chapelle Show were using him as a tool to push racist agendas.

And now, almost two decades later, Chapelle is on the other side of the coin he walked away from as he traded being an unwitting tool for racists to very publicly attacking trans people.

“Dave Chappelle’s hypocrisy is amazing,” one Twitter user wrote, “The same man who left the industry because of how his comedy portrayed him, his people and his culture, now wants to be ‘unapologetic’ and “uncensored” about another group of people and a culture he doesn’t understand?”

It wasn’t just one tweet calling Chapelle out on his behavior as hundreds of replies flooded people’s timelines as viewers took note of this contradiction.

Despite being a controversial figure, it looks like Netflix and Chapelle’s partnership won’t be ending any time soon as Netflix CEO Reed Hastings has stated that the company will continue to order more of Chapelle’s specials despite getting backlash.

“We’re just trying to be the most exciting entertainment company and more,” Hastings told the crowd at the The New York Times’ DealBook Summit, “[His last] special was one of the most entertaining watch specials we’ve ever had. We would do it again and again.” 

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