Comedian Dave Chappelle’s work on the Netflix special “Closer” received criticism last year. And he is now coming back again with the four Netflix Specials.
Fans will be able to stream four new comedy specials from the embattled star as part of a collection titled “Chappelle’s Home Team,” according to Netflix.
Netflix is a Joke confirmed the project on its Twitter account on Friday, along with a video of Chappelle talking about it.
Hello, everyone! It’s me, Dave in Ohio, and I’m ecstatic to announce that February 28th is the release date for my guy from Washington D.C., Earthquake, in his first Netflix special.
“It’s been twenty-five years since my debut. Please tune into the last day of Black History Month so we may make another day of history together.
A second episode will include comedian Donnell Rawlings, and two more comics will appear in the subsequent two.
Chappelle announced a new 11-day stand-up comedy festival, dubbed “Netflix Is A Joke: The Festival,” in Los Angeles featuring over 130 artists, including the Emmy-winning comedian, after word of the specials leaked.
“It’s a dream come true for Netflix to have a comedy festival of this scale in Los Angeles,” Robbie Praw, director of stand-up and comedy formats at Netflix, said.
“Last spring’s postponement was a letdown, and our lineup of comedians can’t wait to laugh away the pain for fans in Los Angeles and across the world on Netflix. In one of the world’s greatest cities, ‘Netflix Is A Joke Festival’ will provide comedy enthusiasts with the chance to see the greats as well as discover new talents”
Chappelle found himself in a bind when “The Closer” aired on Oct. 1.
A week after his controversial comments about the transgender community, Netflix and other groups organized protests. A group of 30 Netflix employees walked off the job on October 20 and joined a demonstration at its headquarters in Los Angeles.
After the premiere of its much-anticipated original program, Netflix hit a buzz-saw of criticism not just for the episode but also for how internal memos addressed employee concerns, including co-CEO Ted Sarandos’ statement that “on screen content does not directly translate to real-world damage.”
At the time, Sarandos added that Netflix does not allow content that “aims to incite hatred or violence” and that “The Closer” does not appear to cross this line.
Later, the executive apologized for his statement and claimed he had failed to realize that “a portion of our employees was really hurting,” as The Wall Street Journal reported. His remark about the impact of television on viewers being a simplification was, according to him, an oversimplification.
A spokesperson for Netflix stated, “We appreciate our trans coworkers and allies, and understand the tremendous anguish that has been caused. “We understand the choice of every employee to walk out and acknowledge that we have a long way to go both inside Netflix and in our programming,” he added.
The streamer also lost showrunner Jaclyn Moore, who chose to quit working with the streaming firm due to the program. It now faces additional public and staff criticism.