Dave Chappelle and Netflix are still going strong and will soon bring four comedy specials executive produced and hosted by Chappelle to the streaming platform soon.
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Netflix announced Friday the release of four upcoming comedy specials executive produced and hosted by the legendary yet controversial comic.
The series of specials is dubbed Chappelle’s Home Team, and each will feature a different comic introduced by Chappelle.
According to a release provided by Netflix, “Chappelle’s Home Team” will debut its first special, “Earthquake: Legendary,” on Feb. 28, featuring the comedian Earthquake as he “shakes up the stage and delivers aftershocks while going in hard on health as wealth, prostate exams and disciplining kids.” The second special will feature Donnell Rawlings however a release date has a yet-to-be-announced.
“I’ve been doing this a long time and comedians like Quake and Donnell are not only friends but have inspired my own career,” Chappelle said. “Anyone in the comedy community knows these names and knows their time to shine is long overdue. I am proud to be a part of this moment.”
Chappelle’s latest Netflix special “The Closer” sparked a lot of outrage and chaos surrounding his remarks about the LGBTQ+ community, and in particular the transgender community.
“Gender is a fact,” Chappelle said in “The Closer.” “Every human being in this room, every human being on Earth, had to pass through the legs of a woman to be on Earth. That is a fact.”
Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos stood by Chappelle and defended the special amid uproar from viewers and some of the streamer’s own employees which led to a protest and staged a walkout outside company’s Los Angeles headquarters in October. Sarandos later admitted “I screwed up” by not being more sensitive to Netflix staffers. Still, Sarandos backed the program as “consistent with our comedy offering, it’s consistent with Dave Chappelle’s comedy brand and this is one of those times when there’s something on Netflix that you’re not going to like.”
Despite the backlash Chappelle will headline a performance at the Hollywood Bowl for Netflix’s Los Angeles-based comedy festival, Netflix is a Joke, which begins April 28th.
Will you be tuning into Chappelle’s new Netflix special? Let us know below!