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'Transgender lunatics': Dave Chappelle slams protesters after show gets moved amid backlash

The comedian also defended 'Harry Potter' author JK Rowling, who has been under fire for allegedly making transphobic remarks

Comedian Dave Chappelle’s show at a Minneapolis venue on Wednesday, July 20, was canceled hours before he was set to take the stage due to backlash from staff and the transgender community over his recent jokes about them. Chappelle, 48, had been slated to hold a sold-out show at First Avenue, a venue in Minneapolis. Tickets started at $129.50 and the venue had sold 1,500 tickets, bringing in nearly $200,000 in terms of sales.

However, First Avenue announced in a statement that Chappelle would not perform at the venue on Wednesday night but at another location in Minneapolis. The venue had faced blowback for booking the legendary comedian for a surprise, sold-out performance in the months that followed his 2021 Netflix special 'The Closer' in which Chappelle doubled down on jokes about the LGBTQ+ community after past accusations of homophobia and transphobia. 

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“To staff, artists, and our community, we hear you and we are sorry,” First Avenue said in a statement, which was posted to social media less than three hours before the show was scheduled to begin. “We know we must hold ourselves to the highest standards, and we know we let you down. We are not just a black box with people in it, and we understand that First Ave is not just a room, but meaningful beyond our walls,” the statement read. 

The venue, which is best known for its appearances in Prince’s 1984 film 'Purple Rain', added that while it believes in diverse voices and the freedom of artistic expression, “we lost sight of the impact” booking Chappelle would have on the community. “We know there are some who will not agree with this decision; you are welcome to send feedback,” First Avenue wrote. Their about-turn came as the result of a Change.org petition signed by 125 people who complained Chappelle was transphobic, and staff members who refused to turn up to the man the event. 

During the show, Chappelle said he was disappointed that First Avenue hadn't shown more strength against the "woke mob". He also laughed off the transgender activists who protested outside, calling them "lunatics".

According to a review of the show by local paper The Star Tribune, he said, "I can see a transgender hit squad from a mile off," prompting laughs from the crowd of fans. Phones were not allowed inside the event. 

As part of 'The Closer', Chappelle joked about transgender genitalia, said “gender is a fact” and told his audience he was on “team TERF”, an acronym for a trans-exclusionary radical feminist. The comedian also defended 'Harry Potter' author JK Rowling, who has been criticized for making statements seen as transphobic. Chappelle has joked about the transgender community in the past, including in his 2019 special 'Sticks & Stones'.

GLAAD, a media watchdog group, previously accused the Chappelle program of having “anti-LGBTQ content” that violates Netflix’s policy to reject programs inciting hate or violence. The National Black Justice Coalition, a civil rights advocacy group, called on Netflix in 2021 to immediately pull the special and “directly apologize to the transgender community.”

Netflix Co-chief Executive Ted Sarandos has repeatedly defended the comedian, saying that “creative freedom” was one reason the company would not take down the special. Sarandos has acknowledged that although some people may find Chappelle’s stand-up to be “mean-spirited”, “our members enjoy it, and it’s an important part of our content offering.”

Dozens of protesters gathered outside the Varsity Theater to oppose Chappelle, many of them chanting, “Trans rights matter!” and holding signs saying, “Transphobia isn’t a joke.” One Chappelle fan was also hit by an egg by a man who protesters don’t believe was part of the demonstration. Many people took to Twitter to express their disappointment over the situation.

MnUprising is now being compared to white fascists for bullying and lobbying the theater. The group, MnUprising, describes itself as "amplifying voices from occupied indigenous land." It was formed in August 2020. 

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Journalist Glenn Greenwald wrote, "This theater in Minneapolis booked and promoted a live show by Dave Chappelle. Activists objected, demanding they cancel it because the show "harms" them and puts them in "danger." The theater capitulated and apologized for the "harm." The show will now be in a different theater." "In the 1980s, it was the Moral Majority and social conservatives on the right who routinely objected to shows by artists and comedians, demanding that the shows be canceled or banned on the ground that they "cause harm to the community." Now it's the left that does this," he added.

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