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Dave Chappelle Downplays Dababy Backlash Before Saying He's Done With LGBTQ Jokes
Dave Chappelle addressed the backlash Dababy faced after making homophobic remarks at Rolling Loud earlier this year, in his new comedy special, The Closer.
Dave Chappelle has offered his own take on the backlash rapper Dababy faced after making homophobic remarks at Rolling Loud earlier this year.
The bit comes pretty early in Chappelle's latest comedy special for Netflix, The Closer, as the comedian jokes that Dababy's comments "pushed the button." Chappelle continues on, saying that he believes the rapper — who he refers to as a kid despite Dababy turning 30 before the end of this year — "made a very egregious mistake," before going into how Dababy received more backlash for his offensive comments than fatally shooting someone.
"He once shot a ni**a and killed him in Walmart...Dababy shot and killed a ni**a in Walmart in North Carolina," Chappelle says, referring to a shooting the rapper was involved in back in November 2018, that resulted in the death of a 19-year-old. Dababy confirmed his involvement in the incident and said he acted in self-defense, claiming that two men who were wielding weapons confronted him and his family.
"Nothing bad happened to his career...Do you see where I'm going with this?" Chappelle says before getting to his main point on the matter: "In our country, you can shoot and kill a ni**a, but you better not hurt a gay person's feelings."
Chappelle then segues into a commentary on the disparity between progress for Black people and LGBTQ people, believing that the latter is doing better than the former. It's a commentary that doesn't really make any sense, especially as it follows his commentary on Dababy. But then again, when has Chappelle's jokes directed at the LGBTQ community ever really made much sense?
The Closer includes other jokes directed at LGBTQ people, but by the end of the special Chappelle does declare that he's not telling another joke about them "until we are both sure that we are laughing together."
"All I ask from your community, with all humility, will you please stop punching down on my people?" Chappelle says as he ends his set, referring to not just Dababy, but Kevin Hart, too.
Despite touching anecdotes about befriending the late trans comedian Daphne Dorman — Chappelle reveals that he started a trust fund for Dorman's daughter — it's unfortunate that Chappelle's jokes directed at the LGBTQ community still come up short. But, hopefully, the declaration he shared at the end of his special means he'll take in some of the valid criticism he's received, and return with jokes that achieve the union he seems to want.
The Closer is available to stream on Netflix.