One 2016 set saw Chappelle saying he didn’t want “a woman with a dick” using a urinal next to him during a bit ostensibly about how he’s opposed to bathroom bills. Transphobia is a long-standing facet of that persona, and it’s made its way into a lot of his material in the past decade. His whole gimmick, from the 2003 premiere of Chappelle’s Show to now, has been that he’s “offensive” and “boundary-pushing” in the name of good comedy, and his critics are just being overly sensitive. Earlier this month, Dave Chappelle greeted a cheering crowd at the Hollywood Bowl, chuckling, “If this is what being canceled is about, I love it.” He was referring to the reaction to his newest comedy special, The Closer, which recently dropped on Netflix and has been skewered for its transphobic and homophobic humor.
