Dave Chappelle’s Divisive Netflix Special Just Won A Grammy
Comedian David Chappelle has won a grammy award for his controversial Netflix special 'The Closer'
If we needed any more proof that being cancelled doesn’t actually mean anything, Dave Chappelle has just won a Grammy for Best Comedy Album.
The win for Chappelle’s Netflix special, The Closer, gives the comedian his fourth consecutive Grammy award, despite the special containing mean-spirited jokes aimed at the community LGBTIQ+ where the comedian claims he’s on “Team TERF”. The special was denounced by several civil rights organisations for containing transphobic messages after its initial release in 2021, even escalating to a walk-out demonstration by Netflix workers who disagreed with its production.
At the time, Chappelle responded to the criticism by attacking Australian comedian Hannah Gatsby while Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos defended the comedian’s “right to artistic freedom” in a cringey company-wide memo. Among the five male nominees for this year’s award was Louis C.K., who also took home the award last year despite his history of sexual misconduct.
The same industry that’s patting itself on the back tonight for making Kim Petras the first trans woman to win pop duo/group performance at the #Grammys also gave Dave Chappelle another Grammy for his transphobic special “The Closer” so it’s nice to see hypocrisy is alive & well pic.twitter.com/a404pKVcYm
— Zoë Rose Bryant (@ZoeRoseBryant) February 6, 2023
Distancing himself from the nomination process, Grammys CEO Harvey Mason has previously told reporters that the awards organisation will never censor nominated artists, stating “we don’t control who the voters vote for”.
“If the voters feel like a creator deserves a nomination, they’re going to vote for them.” Mason told Hollywood Reporter. “We’re never going to be in the business of deciding someone’s moral position or where we evaluate them to be on the scale of morality.”