Dave Chappelle says he won't be "bending to anyone's demands," slams Hannah Gadsby as "not funny"

Deadline

Chappelle released a standup comedy video on Instagram showing him responding to the trans controversy over his The Closer Netflix special. While Chappelle said he'd be willing to meet with members of the trans community, he said "I am not bending to anyone’s demands." Chappelle also blamed "corporate interests" for the controversy, saying that the LGBTQ community has been "loving and supportive." He also took a shot at Hannah Gadsby, who slammed Chappelle’s perceived transphobic obsession and the reaction Netflix and co-CEO Ted Sarandos initially had to the hurt and backlash expressed by the company’s trans staffers and others. “To the transgender community, I am more than willing to give you an audience, but you will not summon me,” said Chappelle. “I am not bending to anyone’s demands,” he added to cheers from the crowd. “And if you want to meet with me, I am more than willing to, but I have some conditions,” the currently touring Chappelle says onstage, saying he has not actually been invited to speak with “transgender employees of Netflix.” He says over laughter: “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 insisted that he doesn't have a beef with the LGBTQ community. “I want everyone in this audience to know that even though the media frames it that it’s me versus that community, that’s not what it is,” Chappelle said. “Do not blame the LGBTQ community for any of this. It’s about corporate interests, and what I can say, and what I cannot say. For the record, and I need you to know this, everyone I know from that community has been loving and supportive, so I don’t know what this nonsense is about.” Chappelle said a documentary he's been shopping on last year's "Summer Camp" in Yellow Springs, Ohio has suffered as a result of the controversy. "When this controversy came out about The Closer, they began disinviting me from these film festivals, and now, today, not a film company, not a movie studio, not a film festival, nobody will touch this film," he said. "Thank God for Ted Sarandos and Netflix, he’s the only one that didn’t cancel me yet.”