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Comedian Dave Chappelle is set to bring his “Untitled” documentary to Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena next month.
Chappelle came under fire soon after his most recent Netflix special, ‘The Closer”, landed on the platform. He declared himself on “team TERF” (trans-exclusionary radical feminist) and made several transphobic jokes in the special.
LGBTQ2S+ people, activists and allies quickly called out the transphobic behaviour. Within days, Netflix employees staged a walkout in response to the special.
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According to the event on Scotiabank Arena’s page, it will be a screening of the documentary and Dave Chappelle will appear with “friends.” The event is slated to take place on November 15, with tickets going on sale on October 27.
In a video posted to his Instagram, Chappelle said that he had been cancelled over his transphobic remarks and that film festivals didn’t want to touch the film. Despite being “cancelled”, he still will be touring the film in 10 cities. Toronto is the only Canadian city with a screening.
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In the video he talks to a cheering audience, saying that “nobody will touch the film.” Before thanking Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos for being the “only one who didn’t cancel me.”
He adds that he will not bend to anyone’s demands, and that he’d be willing to meet with the transgender community, but that he has conditions. Which include having to watch his special, meet him where he wants and when he wants and they must also admit to him that Hannah Gadsby is not funny.
Gadsby is a comedian that has had two Netflix specials, and who was dragged into the chaos by Sarandos in an internal memo sent to Netflix employees after the Chappelle special. Gadsby did not take kindly to being used to show diversity at Netflix and posted a statement on her Instagram.
In interviews, Sarandos later walked back his initial statements and actions saying he “screwed up.” Leading up to this he had suspended three employees, fired a pregnant person who spoke out and organized the walkout and emphasized that what’s seen on screen doesn’t translate to real world violence.
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