“Not Bending,” Dave Chappelle Defends The Closer and Clarifies False News

Dave Chappelle finally responds to The Closer controversy in an announcement about his Untitled documentary’s premiere. 

The Instagram clip shows Chapelle on one of his current tours, addressing the elephant in the room: The press reported that he was invited to speak with the transgender community, but he refused. Chapelle clarifies that it is not true. 

However, had he been actually invited, he would’ve attended but is “unsure” about what the two would parley about—Chapelle still stands by what he said, but points out that the real issue is not the supposed animosity between the LGBTQ community and him. In his words:

It’s about corporate interest. And what I can say and what cannot say. For the record, and I need you to know this, everyone I know from the community has been nothing but loving and supportive, so I don’t know what all this nonsense is about.

Dave Chappelle

He begins with this preface because the ultimate goal of the Instagram post was to announce his upcoming Untitled documentary. Although he was earlier invited to several film festivals to screen it, the recent Closer controversy has put a lid on it. 

Now, Chappelle discloses, no one in the industry wants to associate with his documentary: 

The Untitled documentary is about the shows Chapelle put on in the summer of 2020, during the peak of the pandemic. Despite The Closer controversy, Chapelle intends on releasing the documentary on his own in ten cities in the US. Dates, cities, and ticket details are mentioned in the Instagram post.

During the clip, Chappelle also singles out Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos for being the only one who did not cancel him.

But for all those who still have a problem with Chapelle, he said while he is “not bending to anyone,” he’d be happy to meet and have a conversation with them—but only if, they have watched The Closer from start to finish. 

Chappelle makes it clear that he will not have his voice excluded and ends the video asking his audience, and probably us, “Am I canceled or not?” 

In the world of creative freedom and ethical responsibility, the answer is not yet clear. 

Source: Instagram