David Chappelle's special "The Closer" is streaming on Netflix. Image Source: VOX 

Dave Chappelle, an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and producer, released his latest stand-up special "The Closer" on Netflix on October 5, 2021. The 72-minute stand-up special created a buzz throughout the industry as soon as it reached people's screens, as it was focused firmly on setting the record straight after being highly lambasted for past specials in which he belittled trans people, homosexual people, and survivors of sexual violence.

The comedian jokes about trans women's genitals and comments that it was simpler for Caitlyn Jenner to come out as transgender as it was for Muhammad Ali to change his name. "Every human being in this room, every human being on Earth, had to travel through the legs of a woman to be on Earth," he continues.

People chastised the comedian for being inconsiderate and hurtful to the trans community, and Netflix was questioned about airing the program. According to the company's management, Bela Bajaria, global TV president, and Ted Sarandos, co-Chief Executive Officer, the special did not violate the boundary, thus, they agreed to telecast it. "If this is what being cancelled is like, I love it," the 48-year-old comedian stated, seemingly unfazed by the outrage.

According to reports, after a lot of employees raised their concerns about the special streaming on the platform, Ted Sarandos sent out a note to a group of employees stating that the special did not cross the line that comes under hate or violence. The note said, "Chappelle is one of the most popular stand-up comedians today, and we have a long-standing deal with him. So... As with our other talent, we work hard to support their creative freedom — even though this means there will always be content on Netflix some people believe is harmful, like Cuties, 365 Days, 13 Reasons Why or My Unorthodox Life. I recognize, however, that distinguishing between commentary and harm is hard, especially with stand-up comedy, which exists to push boundaries. Some people find the art of stand-up to be mean-spirited, but our members enjoy it, and it’s an important part of our content offering".

Co-CEO Reed Hastings said the streaming platform will "continue to work with Dave Chappelle in the future," he wrote on an internal message board. "We see him as a unique voice, but can understand if you or others never want to watch his shows," Hastings wrote.

Another piece of industry news was the announcement by Netflix that an unnamed employee had been fired for sharing commercially sensitive information with someone outside the company about Dave Chappelle's special, which was against the company's rules.

A Netflix representative told Variety in a statement, "We have let go an employee for sharing confidential, commercially sensitive information outside the company. We understand this employee may have been motivated by disappointment and hurt with Netflix, but maintaining a culture of trust and transparency is core to our company." According to The Verge, the employee is trans. Netflix claimed it traced the information to a single worker who "confessed that they accessed and disseminated sensitive corporate information outside" after reviewing its internal access logs.

According to Bloomberg, Netflix paid $24.1 million for "The Closer" and $23.6 million for Chappelle's 2019 special "Sticks & Stones." That's more than the company paid for Bo Burnham's "Inside" special ($3.9 million) and even more than it paid for the global smash hit "Squid Game" ($21.4 million), which is the company's most-watched Netflix original title to date.

Netflix appears to have been embarrassed by the data leak to Bloomberg because it appears that the firm paid more money for Dave Chappelle's controversial video than for stuff that streams better on their platform. Trans Netflix employees and allies stated on social media that they planned a walkout on October 20th as a protest against Ted Sarandos, and the release of the special took an unexpected turn.

During his stand-up routine, Chappelle discusses the issues that black people experience and compares them to those encountered by queer and trans individuals, seemingly ignoring the connection between the two groups. Chappelle has always been a strong supporter of African-Americans–his 2020 special 8:46 was called after the period police officer Derek Chauvin knelt on George Floyd's neck before he died–but he's been harsh on LGBTQ+ people. In his Netflix performance Sticks & Stones from 2019, he complains how "you are never, ever permitted to offend the alphabet people" in the entertainment industry.

"Watching Chappelle contort himself to justify ashy ideas about gender, queerness and identity is harrowing, because the only thing more brutal than someone saying hurtful shit is someone saying hurtful shit moments after making you laugh, moments after cracking you up in a way that’s both fun and deeply needed, moments after you making you feel like you all got free together," wrote Saeed Jones in a GQ essay about the comedian’s new material.

Dave Chappelle talks about his friendship with comic Daphne Dorman, a trans woman who committed suicide in October of this year, at the close of the special. He tells a story about opening for Dorman at a gig, and how the two ended up having a back-and-forth during Chappelle's act. "'Daphne, that was fun," he remembered saying at the end of the show. "I love you to death, but I have no idea what you're on about.'... She looks at me as if I'm no longer her friend as if I'm something bigger than myself as if I'm the entire world wrapped up in a guy. 'I don't need you to understand me. All I ask is that you believe I'm having a human experience", the comedian states further.

Amid the criticism, Dorman's family has expressed support for Chappelle, describing him as an "LGBT ally." It was also reported that Chappelle had established a college fund for Dorman's daughter. In a post for The Guardian, comedian Dahlia Belle responded to Chappelle's show, taking issue with how he conveyed his story about Dorman.

"What fuels our misery is the marginalization, mocking, dehumanization, and violence that many of us suffer on a daily basis for the majority of our lives. The only thing you've done that has made me angry enough to send a letter is to use Daphne's tragedy as your closing tag," she wrote.

The controversy surrounding the comedian special has already had repercussions in the entertainment industry, with Jaclyn Moore, the showrunner of Dear White People, announcing that she will no longer work with the company due to Chappelle's material.