The Duke Ellington School of the Arts, based in Washington D.C., its renaming its theatre after Dave Chappelle, just months after the comedian was heckled by students who felt his jokes about the transgender community were out of line. Dave caused controversy back in October when his Netflix special “The Closer” premiered on the streaming platform, much to the disappointment of critics who felt his witty remarks about trans people had taken his comedic jokes too far.
The aforementioned school, which Dave attended in 1991, had planned to do the honors in late 2021, but as the scandal surrounding the Netflix special continued, the decision was subsequently held off for the foreseeable future. The 48-year-old decided to pay students a visit back in November, but things didn’t go according to plan when a heap of teens let out their frustration during an assembly, with one being quoted, saying, “I’m 16 and I think you’re childish.”
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TMZ claims Dave was heavily heckled during his appearance, and after hearing how some students were against the idea of the performance theater being named after him, he challenged his supporters and hecklers to raise money for the school. If the latter was to raise more money, he agreed to forgo the honor, but as it turned out, Dave’s fans at the school ended up piling together much more than the opposite team.
Back in May, Dave was infamously attacked while performing a stand-up routine for the Netflix Is A Joke festival at the Hollywood Bowl. His alleged attacker Isaiah Lee later told The New York Post that he felt triggered by the things Dave had previously said about the LGBTQ+ community and that someone as famous as him should consider running his material by people before hurting his fans with sensitive topics.
“I identify as bisexual … and I wanted him to know what he said was triggering,” he said. “I wanted him to know that next time, he should consider first running his material by people it could affect. I’m also a single dad and my son is five. It’s a struggle and I wanted Dave Chappelle to know [homelessness] not a joke.”
That same month, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos came forward and said he was standing by Dave and fellow comedian Ricky Gervais despite the backlash that came with their specials. He insisted in upholding both of them to the right of “free expression,” even if that means someone is going to be offended and considers the joke as “crossing the line.”
Ted added, “We’re programming for a lot of diverse people who have different opinions and different tastes and different styles,” Sarandos continued, “and yet we’re not making everything for everybody. We want something for everybody, but everything’s not going to be for everybody.”