Dave Chappelle’s ‘The Closer’ Cheapens His Legacy
The legendary comedian is smarter than his willfully ignorant gags about the LGBTQ+ community and trans people
Contrary to his ongoing campaign against cancel culture, no one is cancelling Dave Chappelle. At this point he couldn’t be cancelled even if that were a real thing: he’s too rich, he’s built an independent production wall around himself, and he’s in complete control over the trajectory of his career. He isn’t on social media at a level where criticism has any discernible impact on his career or life. So nothing I say here seeks to launch such a campaign on the heels of his latest Netflix special, The Closer. Unlike Chappelle, I get that it’s more of an accountability moment, not a burning books moment, and borrowing a bit from his recent special — cancel culture also isn’t a real place.
Chappelle’s most recent comedy special sticks to the formula he’s been using for several years now. He hits viewers out the gate with several minutes of shock-inducing stuff. (The first nine minutes traffic in child molestation, anti-Semitism, and police shootings. You know, to set the mood.) Then he stretches into longer bits about how tough it is to be a rich comedian fighting for the right to tell whatever jokes he wants in a world in which no one could possibly stop…
