Jon Stewart Defends Dave Chappelle

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Sources:

[kiritugeorge]

The TERF criticism and Chappelle's misunderstanding of it and other things (cancel culture, race as a factor in the LGBT community etc.) are very valid and need to be pointed out. However, the show overall had Chappelle genuinely express his support for feminism and the LGBT community in his own anti-woke, comedic way. If you actually watch the Closer you'd understand that. I'm saying all this as a gay black man myself.

[jrm]

I'm really tired of this story. People who want to do harm to the trans community don't need a comedy special to encourage them to do it, especially when Dave's delivery is clearly intended to be empathetic. If the media stops sensationalizing this story so much it will go away and people will just move on.

[Adrenalinejunkie]

IDK. I don'tunderstand how he can tell the story he told about the transgender comedian he befriended and mentored (while using the appropriate pronouns the whole story) who then killed herself after the LGBTQ community dragged her on Twitter for defending him and then he set up a trust for her daughter and people still can't understand that jokes are jokes and he's made jokes about everything you can imagine. He clearly does not hate transgender people and he tried to have discussions about it and ended the special by saying the community isn't listening, only reacting and he won't tell the jokes anymore until he's sure you're laughing together. Standup comedy isn't a safe space by it's very nature and the tone deaf response from the trans community that caused the suicide of one of their own is disgusting.

[RollnRye]

I wanted to know what he said so I watched his special. First off, it's now hard to find. It's not even listed under his library of titles now. You have to search for the special by name. Anyway, I suggest everyone watch it to the end because by the end he makes the point that what people say can kill others. His best trans friend killed herself because of the hate and harassments. He also points out the truth that you maybe woman on the outside but physically you were born a man. There's no denying it. However, at the end of his show he talks about his trans friend having a young daughter and how he setup a fund for her. He states when she's old enough he will tell her, ''I knew your father and he was a wonderful woman.'' He's not against the rights of trans people to live as they feel. He supports their cause. The thing is, he knew this blow up would happen because a few people out of 300 million that don't listen, will blow up twitter. smh...sigh...all of you jumping his case need to watch his show and LISTEN to what he is saying.

[Open_Space]

I'm on the left, and I support Dave Chappelle. We are not robots and can think for ourselves. His special was good I watched the whole thing and didn't see this as being something people freak out over, it's Dave Chappelle who makes fun of everyone, and everything. Lefties aren't all the same, I understand it's comedy.

[plp]

David thanks for covering this. It feels like Almost everyone is on Chapelle’s side, even on the left, and am sure your comment section will prove this. I really appreciate your calmness, fairness, and promoting education here.

[MatthewMuhammad]

Didn't Jon just blast comedians whining about "cancel culture" a week ago?

[eleanorsvenson]

Chappell didn’t encourage violence through his words. He explained his perspective. We’re increasingly becoming illiberal in the way we police speech because anything you say could be blamed for potential violence.

[marcbochner]

I have a problem with people pulling a single line out of a larger piece and then attacking that entire piece because of that line. What Chapelle did brilliantly was layouts biases and misconceptions so that they can be looked at and even made fun of. Then he detailed the process that he and perhaps others from various cultural backgrounds will go through on their way toward finding truth understanding and compassion

if people don’t understand this process then they also don’t understand The power of art and in particular comedy at easing people over from a harmful view to one of ally

The line you delivered was part of about a 15 or 20 minute piece where he showed the intersection of black culture, gay culture and trans culture. he talked about how blowback from his previous special brought him to a friendship and mentoring experience with an aspiring trans comedienne. he accepted her for who she was and acknowledged they were learning from each other. She had a lot to learn about comedy and he had a lot to learn about the trans community.

When she came out and defended him in his process she was bullied so badly she took her own life leaving behind a child that Chapelle is helping to support

his special was not about the trans community it was about pearl clutching as well as about peoples process and learning process with regard to the trans community

what I saw in watching the special was a man who is not just trying to do no harm but was trying to be a part of solutions. And I suspect it’s the semantics pearl clutchers that refuse to allow themselves to view the special as an opportunity and a gift because they are too invested in being outraged over a few word choices… Choices that were necessary for it to be a learning experience

[madonna]

Declaring oneself a TERF is not coming from a good place. Spending 40% of your special punching down on a community that is completely unrelated to you, is not coming from a good place.

[davida.rodriguez]

I'm left handed, gay and a person of color. I don't need to be coddled or treated like these things are somewhat detrimental to my existence if someone slightly says something others interpret as offensive. Life is hard sometimes and people say stupid things, but you know what?!?! Many if us have thick skins and move on, or honestly don't give a "sh*t" because we have bigger fish to fry. Applying the "Butterfly effect theory" to everything in existence can make for a fun movie, but no...what Dave Chappelle said is not going to kill anyone. NO ONE!!! Jesus "f-ing" Christ. These ridiculous hyperbolic arguments by so called allies of our community are actually more harmful than good because they take away from actual legitimate issues and problems our community has to face. Seriously...Are we still in high school and complaining about someone who called us a name or looked at me in the wrong way? Ugh!

[thevision]

Funny, I can't recall the last time bill Maher was funny or was considered a comedian

[TheShrekage]

you seem to be really confused. He wasn't making fun of them, he was pointing out the hypocrisy in our society when it protects one group of people and not another. like how black people are still fighting to be treated like humans and we all have to walk on egg shells for the lgbtq community. He isn't saying against them, he's saying his people deserve the same level of consideration.

[KoupeDeVille]

Dave NEVER once said anything bad about trans ppl until he told his story about HIS trans friend who killed herself after being attacked by trans ppl for standing up for his right to tell jokes and stories!

[oakinwol]

The issue I have with this "putting Trans lives at risk" statement is that people can make this statement without any data or evidence that it's actually true. It's just like people who say violent video games cause increased gun violence. You have to study and prove your claims. Your feelings about what things might cause what and then trying to force the world to follow that is improper. Especially for comedy. The point of a joke is to be funny, that's all. In the case Dave himself was a bigot or didn't care about the transgender plight then that's one thing. What I don't understand is why it's ok for Dave to make fun of Asians and jews but not Trans people

[Jugivadi]

When Chapell did the skit Clayton Bixby, black klansman, I realized he was a totally different kind of comedian. He means to make you think and he means no harm to anyone. I agree with John Stewart. Some jokes are funny, some aren't, it's all part of the life of a comedian.

[OUANEMUSIC]

I vehemently disagree my friend. It is clear that Art has been and will always be dangerous. And it is not the artist's job to explain to the audience what they mean. Anything could have a negative impact. There are millions of ways people can take what you say and use it to do harm (if you are aware of the power of interpretation and motivated reasoning). Dave Chappelle did not say these things on a podcast, nor on an interview or behind a podium in a serious conference. He said it on stage as an artist performing a text that was written and developed mainly as an art work (a comedy show). In that regard Netflix is only doing its thing, which is to offer an artistic product, made by a leading figure in their discipline. And if you want art to be careful of every possible interpretation that might bring around harm, then cancel all the rappers, punks, performance artists, etc. And enjoy your sober none-challenging, soft-core comedy which has no taste, no edge, no challenge. You seem like you listen to white acoustic music anyways, you won't get it !

[enemyofthethrone]

Can someone explain to me exactly how anything Dave said puts anyone's life in danger?

[lizmad]

Trans lives aren’t at risk because of Dave Chappelle. Those who don’t get it, never will.

[SatoshiMatrix]

Chappelle's issue is he this language isn't precise enough. He talks about gender being irrefutable when he means sex. He says he sides with the TERFs because they are reasonable when that is the exact opposite. I feel like instead of cancelling him, calling him a bigot etc we all collectively should demand more precision.

Trans jokes ARE okay. Same as white jokes are okay. Women jokes are okay, black jokes are okay. Nobody should be the comedy police. All that should be reasonably asked of Chappelle is that he be more precise.