- Netflix has announced four new Dave Chappelle comedy specials on Friday.
- Four months ago, Netflix employees staged a walkout over Chappelle’s “The Closer” special.
- Chappelle drew criticism for making offensive jokes about trans people.
Controversial comedian Dave Chappelle is the host and executive producer of an upcoming series of
Netflix
comedy specials, the
streaming
company said on Friday.
The first installment of the four “Chappelle’s Home Team” specials will debut on February 28, Netflix said in a press release, per The Hollywood Reporter. Each special will feature a different comic, introduced by Chappelle.
The announcement comes only four months after Chappelle drew intense criticism for making offensive jokes about transgender people in his “The Closer” Netflix special.
In the special, Chappelle showed support for “Harry Potter” author JK Rowling by saying “Team TERF!,” which stands for trans-exclusionary radical feminist, Insider previously reported. He also compared the genitals of trans women to Beyond Meat or Impossible Burgers.
In October, Netflix’s trans employee resource group staged a walkout after co-CEO Ted Sarandos defended “The Closer” in an internal memo. Multiple Netflix stars, including Elliot Page and Dan Levy, pledged their support for the protest.
Sarandos has since said he “screwed up” with the internal memo, in which he claimed content “doesn’t directly translate to real-world harm.” However, despite the walkout, Netflix decided not to remove it from the streaming platform.
In December, Netflix signaled that it intended to continue working closely with Chappelle when it announced that he would headline the company’s comedy festival. The comedian will perform at the “Netflix Is a Joke Festival” at the Hollywood Bowl in April.