Dave Chappelle Responds To Netflix's Transgender Workers, Says He Willing To 'Talk About Rumor'

Comedian Dave Chappelle on Monday confronted rumors that he denied a meeting with transgender Netflix employees to discuss his special, which has been criticized for transphobic slurs.

Chappelle's Netflix special, “The Closer,” received backlash from the transgender community for being transphobic. Chappelle has maintained that his comments are only part of a “comedic act.”

In a five-minute video posted to Instagram, Chappelle explains that a meeting with Netflix employees was never set up. He said that he is fully willing to meet with the employees, but will not reform to “anyone’s demands.”

“It’s been said in the press that I was invited to speak to the transgender employees of Netflix, and I refused. That is not true — if they had invited me, I would have accepted it, although I am confused about what we would be speaking about,” Chappelle said in the video.

Chappelle’s “The Closer” made jokes that involved the transgender community and touched on his past comments about transgenders. He suggested that there has been unnecessary vitriol directed towards him.

“I said what I said, and boy, I heard what you said. My God, how could I not? You said you want a safe working environment at Netflix. It seems like I’m the only one that can’t go to the office anymore,” said Chappelle.

Chappelle’s comedic act has been shut down by many film festivals for being transphobic. He has also openly spoken of his friend Hannah Gadsby, a transgender comedian who would open up for some of his sets. He would joke that "she was not funny."

“To the transgender community, I am more than willing to give you an audience, but you will not summon me. I am not bending to anybody’s demands. And if you want to meet with me, I’d be more than willing to, but I have some conditions. First of all, you cannot come if you have not watched my special from beginning to end. You must come to a place of my choosing at a time of my choosing, and thirdly, you must admit that Hannah Gadsby is not funny,” Chappelle said in the video.

He also suggested that his standup act did not put him at odds with the LBGTQ community.

“I want everyone in this audience to know that even though the media frames it that it’s me versus that community, that is not what it is. Do not blame the LBGTQ community for any of this s***. This has nothing to do with them. It’s about corporate interests and what I can say and what I cannot say,” Chappelle said.

“For the record, and I need you to know this, everyone I know from that community has been loving and supporting, so I don’t know what all this nonsense is about."