Dave Chappelle is a transphobe. You can dress it up however you want, you can try to justify it however you want, but Dave doesn’t care. It’s his thing now, to be bitter and bigoted against one specific marginalized community. It’s how he gets “laughs.” He revels in making people uncomfortable. He thinks it’s all a joke, the fact that he’s targeting, mocking and otherizing transgender people in his act. What’s also awful about it is that his comedian friends are like “right on, dude, you’re the best!” Just because someone was funny and groundbreaking twenty years ago, doesn’t mean they’re still that person. Anyway, Dave was supposed to perform at a Minneapolis comedy club last night. The club canceled his performance after their staff protested, and after they got a lot of pushback from other people.

A Dave Chappelle stand-up show in Minneapolis, Minn. was canceled on Wednesday, just hours before the comedian was set to perform.

First Avenue, the iconic venue that provided the setting for Prince’s “Purple Rain,” announced that the show would not be taking place at their theater and was instead moving to Varsity Theater. In an Instagram post, the venue addressed the social media backlash they had received after booking Chappelle, who has had his share of controversy this year after his Netflix special “The Closer” was criticized for transphobic jokes.

“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,” the statement reads. “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.”

After announcing Chappelle’s show earlier this week, First Avenue’s social media was filled with comments in protest of the comedian, though TMZ reported that tickets quickly sold out. “Disgusting that you are allowing Dave [Chappelle] to perform at your venue when your guild lines [sic] specifically state not homophobic or transphobic language will be tolerated,” one comment reads.

[From Variety]

Good. I hope this continues, not just for Chappelle but for all comedians who can’t buy a f–king clue that their acts are harming marginalized communities. While this involves a venue canceling a notorious transphobe, this actually isn’t cancel culture. First Avenue understood that they would be economically harmed long-term if they gave a platform to transphobes. And Chappelle still has the right to tell his jokes somewhere else, but he’s not free from the consequences of being a hateful a–hole.

We hear you. Tonight’s show has been cancelled at First Avenue and is moving to the Varsity Theater. See our full statement for more. pic.twitter.com/tkf7rz0cc7

— First Avenue (@FirstAvenue) July 20, 2022

Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.