Another iconic comedian has come to the defense of superstar Dave Chappelle in the aftermath of his controversial Netflix special “The Closer.”
Chappelle received a lot of backlash for “The Closer,” for which he pocketed $24 million, after his critics said that he spewed dangerous anti-LBGTQ rhetoric during the standup show.
Bill Maher, who is the host of HBO’s popular talk show “Real Time” defended Chappelle’s right to free speech, to make a joke and that he is not a virulent hater of the LBGTQ community.
“What the f— was that reaction?” Maher said during his Friday show, according to Fox News. Everyone needs to Netflix and chill the f— out on this one.”
“Really? Dave’s special is offensive but not the show where the Koreans murder each other for money?” Maher said tongue-in-cheek, referring to “Squid Game,” which is also streamed on Netflix.
"I'm Team Dave, but that doesn't mean I'm anti-trans. We can have two thoughts in our head at the same time."
Watch @BillMaher, @JohnHMcWhorter and @AndrewYang discuss the uproar over Dave Chappelle's comedy special on #RealTime: https://t.co/2VZL61qtsG pic.twitter.com/HH8UGsQEeB
— Real Time with Bill Maher (@RealTimers) October 23, 2021
Maher revisited the issue later during a segment with “Woke Racism” author John McWhorter and former presidential candidate Andrew Yang. Maher said that “there isn’t just one true opinion.”
“I’m a free speech guy. Now, I’m Team Dave, but that doesn’t mean I’m anti-trans. We can have two thoughts in our head at the same time,” Maher said, adding that he does support LBGTQ rights.
Others, however, don’t agree with Maher’s assessment of Chappelle’s pronouncements on his standup special. This would include “Transparent” creator Joey Soloway.
“Trans people are in the middle of a holocaust,” Soloway said during the Netflix walkout last week, according to Fox News. “Apartheid, murder, a state of emergency, human rights crisis, there’s a mental health crisis. There’s a suicide crisis, a bullying crisis, an anxiety, depression, self-hatred state of emergency crisis.”
