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Is Hannah Gadsby funny? Dave Chappelle diss splits internet

Dave Chappelle has faced backlash from activists and organizations in light of his stand-up show 'The Closer'

Dave Chappelle made waves on social media after sharing a defiant message on Monday, October 25, following his jokes about transgender people in his Netflix special 'The Closer', which sparked outrage among some in the LGBTQ community.

The 48-year-old comic and Netflix have both faced criticisms from activists and organizations in light of his stand-up show, including one from Australian comic Hannah Gadsby, who reportedly has two Netflix comedy specials centered around homophobia and sexism. Chappelle responded to Gadsby in a video shared with his 2.3 million followers on Instagram, saying one of his three conditions to meet with members of the trans community is that they must "admit Hannah Gadsby is not funny." The other two conditions were that they must have viewed his Netflix special from start to finish and that he would choose a time and venue for the said meeting.

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Chappelle landed in hot water with his controversial jokes, asserting "gender is a fact" and that members of the trans community have rather thin skin. Many of the jokes were based on observations previously made by 'Harry Potter' author JK Rowling, who in 2019 argued that transgender women could not be classified as women without dire societal consequences for the latter.

Despite the backlash, Chappelle seemed defiant as he spoke out for the first time about the controversy in a five-minute video. "To the transgender community, I am more than willing to give you an audience, but you will not summon me," Chappelle stated. "I am not bending to anyone's demands, and if you want to meet with me, I am more than willing to, but I have some conditions. First of all, you cannot come if you have not watched my special from beginning to end. You must come to a place of my choosing at a time of my choosing, and thirdly, you must admit that Hannah Gadsby is not funny," he declared, before adding, "Am I canceled or not? Then let's go!"

Social media was inundated with criticisms of the Australian comedian. "Admitting that Hannah Gadsby is unfunny shouldn't just be a precondition for meeting with Dave Chappelle. It should be a precondition for being considered a sentient human," Ben Shapiro tweeted.

"Maybe Hannah Gadsby should aspire to be the type of performer who receives better compliments than "she's comfortable not being funny" and that her work is "admirably sloppy," Tablet magazine editor Noam Blum added. "When you're knowingly not funny during a "stand-up set," it becomes a Ted Talk," Fox reporter Joseph Wulfsohn wrote.

However, some appeared to defend Gadsby and slammed Chappelle for his trans jokes. "With Dave Chappelle referencing Hannah Gadsby in his latest rant against 'the trans community,' you have to wonder: does he know what a transgender person is?" trans writer Mey Rude wondered.

"A whole stampede of insecure, mediocre dudebros rushing to Twitter to tell the world they definitely don't know Hannah Gadsby, that irrelevant comic whose named they specifically searched to reply with how she's soooo irrelevant," trans activist Charlotte Clymer wrote.

"A cool thing I've seen happening recently (and also for my entire life) is men saying things aren't funny, inspiring, or worthwhile because they don't appeal specifically to them. (See: Hannah Gadsby, certain Nike ads...) V. cool thing that def doesn't make me wanna start fires," ESPN reporter Sarah Spain chimed in.