On October 5th, Netflix released their Dave Chappelle led comedy special, The Closer. Since then, it’s remained in the news and has been heavily criticized for the 48-year-old’s controversial jokes surrounding transgender folks, the Israel-Palestine conflict, and more.
People from all over the world have weighed in with their opinions on the Netflix original, including Joe Rogan, who defended Chappelle during a recent episode of his podcast, The Joe Rogan Experience.
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The host shared that he and the Washington, D.C. native had been texting back and forth about the drama, saying that his friend is currently “riding out the storm.”
“He’s not a homophobic or transphobic person. He makes fun of himself. There’s a bit in that special about him getting molested and jerking off on a man’s face or cumming in a man’s face. Look, it’s fun,” Rogan said during his sit down with guest host, Michael Malice.
“It’s just making jokes. That doesn’t mean hate. This is the problem with today: if you don’t have an enemy, you make an enemy. And this is a real problem with people. We look for things.”
Another person to adamantly speak out in defence of Chappelle is Netflix’s co-CEO, Ted Sarandos. Earlier this month, he was quoted as saying, “several of you have also asked where we draw the line on hate. We don’t allow titles Netflix that are designed to incite hate or violence, and we don’t believe The Closer crosses that line.”
Sarandos also confirmed that the streaming service would not be removing The Closer from its library, despite receiving several requests to do so.
Hear Joe Rogan’s thoughts on Dave Chappelle’s most recent cancellation in the clip below.
[Via]
