Hours before Wednesday’s Dave Chappelle show in Minneapolis, it was moved to a different venue after First Avenue cancelled following a wave of backlash from LGBTQ supporters.
Chappelle’s anti-trans jokes in his Netflix special “The Closer”Trans supporters have come to blows with both the comedians and the streamers, but he has stood by him.
First Avenue shared the following statement on Twitter and Instagram: “To staff, artists and our community, we hear you and we are sorry. We know we must hold ourselves to the highest standards, and we know we let you down. We are not just a black box with people in it, and we understand that First Ave is not just a room, but meaningful beyond our walls,”This statement says. “The First Avenue team and you have worked hard to make our venues the safest spaces in the country, and we will continue with that mission. We believe in diverse voices and the freedom of artistic expression, but in honoring that, we lost sight of the impact this would have.”
The show was relocated to the Varsity Theater in Minneapolis’ Dinkytown neighborhood. Two additional shows had previously been added for Thursday, Friday.
Chappelle’s controversial Netflix special, which was released in October, prompted a mass walkout from Netflix employees and supporters. Ted Sarandos, CEO of Netflix later doubled down his support for Chappelle by writing an internal memo in which he urged anyone who is not to do so. “offended” by the company’s content to quit.
