*Damon Wayans appears to have nothing but praise for Dave Chappelle’s new Netflix special, telling TMZ that Dave “freed the slaves” — referring to comics who are too afraid to touch on some of the topics that Chappelle tackles in “The Closer”.
Wayans also called Chappelle the van Gogh of comedy when TMZ caught up with him — watch Damon explain it via the clip below.
We previously reported that Ted Sarandos, co-CEO at Netflix, has addressed the criticism of Chappelle’s recent stand-up special on the streaming platform.
The comedian has been catching heat for taking aim that the transgender community in his new stand-up special “The Closer”. In a company memo sent Friday, Sarandos said “The Closer” isn’t “designed to incite hate or violence” and noted that “artistic freedom” is measured differently in stand-up comedy.
READ MORE: Dave Chappelle Catches Heat for Transgender Remarks in Netflix Special ‘The Closer’ [VIDEO]
“Several of you have also asked where we draw the line on hate,” Sarandos wrote in the memo, which you can read in full here. “We don’t allow titles Netflix that are designed to incite hate or violence, and we don’t believe The Closer crosses that line. I recognize, however, that distinguishing between commentary and harm is hard, especially with stand-up comedy which exists to push boundaries. Some people find the art of stand-up to be mean-spirited but our members enjoy it, and it’s an important part of our content offering.”
The National Black Justice Coalition (NBJC) has called on Netflix to remove“The Closer” amid backlash over Dave’s jokes about the trans community.
The NBJC is an American civil rights organization serving primarily lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people.
In Netflix’s “The Closer,” Chappelle takes aim at the trans community, which triggered strong reactions on Twitter.
“Gender is a fact. Every human being in this room, every human being on earth, had to pass through the legs of a woman to be on earth. That is a fact,” Chappelle says in “The Closer.”
“Now, I am not saying that to say trans women aren’t women, I am just saying that those p—ies that they got… you know what I mean? I’m not saying it’s not p—y, but it’s Beyond P—y or Impossible P—y. It tastes like p—y, but that’s not quite what it is, is it? That’s not blood,” he continues. “That’s beet juice.”
And with that, the transgender community is calling for the special to be yanked from the platform but Netflix said that ain’t going to happen.
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