Netflix stands by Dave Chappelle despite criticism over trans remarks

Netflix is defending Dave Chappelle's new comedy special after it has been criticized as transphobic by some LGBTQ2S+ advocates, artists and employees.

Chappelle's special, "The Closer," which debuted on Netflix last week, includes several minutes of jokes about trans people. The comedian says in the special he is "team TERF," referencing the term for "trans-exclusionary radical feminist."

"Gender is a fact," Chappelle says. "Every human being in this room, every human being on earth, had to pass through the legs of a woman to be on earth. That is a fact."

He talks about backlash he received after making jokes about Caitlyn Jenner and other trans people in previous specials, criticizes cancel culture around author JK Rowling and references his friendship with Daphne Dorman, a trans woman and fellow comedian who opened for him at one of his San Francisco shows. Dorman died by suicide in 2019, which Chappelle addresses in "The Closer."

In an October 8 email to employees from Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos and obtained by The Verge and Variety, the executive defended the special.