“The Dreamer,” a brand-new Netflix special from Dave Chappelle, is chock-full of jokes about the handicapped and trans community.
“I love punching down!” he tells the audience in a one-hour program that debuted on the streaming service today (December 31).
It’s his eighth Netflix special, and it comes two years after his most divisive film to date, “The Closer.”
That program received criticism for its constant jokes about the transgender community, and Chappelle brings up the subject again in his most recent program.
He cracks jokes about transgender people in jail and trans people who “pretend” to be someone they are not.
His set also focuses on the handicapped. “I’m doing all disability jokes now,” he declares. One example features paralyzed former North Carolina Republican member Madison Cawthorn, who infamously asserted that he had been invited to sex parties in Washington.
“The Dreamer” was filmed at the Lincoln Theatre in Chappelle’s hometown of Washington, DC.
His most recent special, “The Closer,” drew harsh criticism from Chappelle and Netflix for airing the show.
Netflix was urged to take the special off of their catalog by the National Black Justice Coalition, a group that advocates for civil rights.
According to senior director of the National Black Justice Coalition, David Johns, “Netflix should know better,” with 2021 on record to be the deadliest year on record for trans people in the United States — the majority of whom are Black transgender people.
“Continually fostering stigmatization breeds violence.” Netflix needs to remove “The Closer” from its app right away and offer a sincere apology to the transgender community.
Some Netflix employees actually left after watching “The Closer” and demanded that the company remove the material.
Ted Sarandos, the co-CEO of Netflix, defended the programming while telling his staff, “Many of you have even asked where we draw the line on hate.” “The Closer” does not, in our opinion, fall under the category of Netflix titles that are intended to incite hatred or violence.
However, I recognize that it can be difficult to distinguish between criticism and harm, particularly when it comes to stand-up comedy, which aims to cross boundaries. Some people find the art of stand-up to be mean-spirited, but our members find it funny and it plays a significant role in our content offerings.
Chappelle appears to have benefited from the controversy. He sold more tickets than any other comedy headliner in 2023, making $62 million (£48.6 million) over the course of 31 performances.
