Uproar at Georgetown High School Results in Push and Pull for Dave Chappelle's Fundraiser

A fundraiser for Dave Chappelle at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Georgetown was cancelled without announcement, before being quickly reinstated in response to an internal uproar directed at the widely criticized anti-trans and pro-TERF comments he made in his special The Closer.

Initially planned for this Tuesday (Nov 23) to raise money for a new theatre named after the comedian, faculty and students entered a “heated debate” after the former told the latter that they were expected to help assemble an exhibition in honour of Chappelle according to Poltico.

Many students, including a sizable number who identify as LGBTQ+, voiced that they were uncomfortable with supporting the comic and explored the possibility of staging a walkout.

Despite the school already sending out multiple invitations, Duke Ellington School of the Arts cancelled the fundraiser quietly.

Then hours later, Playbook reported that the school had sent out an additional email that the event was being delayed to April 22.

It is not stated if anyone from Chappelle’s camp threatened to pull their endorsements or continuous donations to the institution.

The school called it a “teachable moment” and rejected the notion that “cancel culture is a healthy or constructive means to teach our students how society should balance creative freedom with protecting the right and dignity of all of its members,” the school said in a statement given to Politico.

The school is currently holding listening sessions with its students and has agreed to instill a more inclusive social studies program with “content related to political activism, civic engagement, arts activism, and the intersections of race, gender, and sexuality.”

Carla Sims, a spokesperson in Chappelle’s camp, explained the reason for delay over outright cancellation: “We’ve been working on a way to make sure the students understand what’s in the special.”

Dave Chappelle has come under career-high fire, as has Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos for his unwavering loyalty to his greatest comedy pull since The Closer entered the public’s consciousness.

On Monday October 11, two trans employees at Netflix showed up to a directors’ meeting without invitation and were suspended.

Two weeks later, hundreds of Netflix employees staged a walkout labelling the special as transphobic and calling on Netflix to commit to more intersectional content and place warnings on programs that viewers might find “transphobic.”

It is difficult to find middle ground in understanding the dynamic between the financial incentives of a tech company, the demand for and rights of one of their most important performers, and an audience who feel their right to existence is being judged and questioned.

Since the walkout, several festivals have cancelled their showings for Untitled, a film Chappelle made about his experiences creating 8:46 in response to the killing of George Floyd. Variety called the film “so good you wish you could forget The Closer.”

Dave Chappelle’s reputation as one of the most skilled and popular comedians alive essentially legitimized Netflix’s comedy department giving them six specials; the first two of which arrived on March 21, 2017, after a long career absence.

Chappelle’s chokehold on Netflix is part of the platform’s greater strategy to become the standard for comedy broadcast/streaming specials. Since then and in addition to other standup comedians of comparable influence that have made Netflix their go to distribution network, HBO have become more or less forgotten as the leading purveyor of hour-long comedy specials.

Dave Chappelle will be performing in Toronto on Monday November 15 where SMACK correspondents will be deployed.