Dave Chappelle to perform at Netflix comedy festival after controversial special

NME

Netflix has announced Dave Chappelle will perform at the Netflix Is A Joke comedy festival, following the backlash to his recent special The Closer.

The festival, delayed from last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, will take place across 25 venues in Los Angeles from April 29 to May 8, 2022.

Other comedians on the line-up include Amy Schumer, Tina Fey, Wanda Sykes, Jerry Seinfeld, David Letterman, Chris Rock, Ali Wong, Hasan Minhaj, Pete Davidson, Kevin Hart, Seth Rogen, Conan O’Brien and Ronny Chieng.

A number of shows will be filmed by Netflix and aired on the platform at a later date.

More legendary comedians, shows and venues than we could ever fit on a poster. Netflix Is A Joke: The Festival is taking over LA starting April 28th. Tickets available Friday at https://t.co/5glTYiQRQa pic.twitter.com/iXzakJUGEZ

— Netflix Is A Joke (@NetflixIsAJoke) December 6, 2021

Robbie Praw, stand-up and comedy formats director at Netflix, said: “We were so disappointed to postpone the event last spring and our line-up of comedians can’t wait to bring much needed laughs to audiences in LA and around the world on Netflix.

“Netflix Is A Joke Festival is going to give comedy fans the opportunity to see the greats and discover new voices in one of the greatest cities in the world.”

One noticeable absence from the line-up is Hannah Gadsby, who was openly critical of Chappelle and Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos back in October. “Fuck you and your amoral algorithm cult,” she wrote.

Chappelle’s stand-up special features the comedian addressing the controversy around Harry Potter author JK Rowling, describing himself as “team TERF” and saying “gender is a fact”.

This was met with criticism by LGBTQ rights group GLAAD among others, prompting a virtual staff walkout within Netflix over the company’s handling of the Chappelle special.

Pre-sale tickets for the Netflix Is A Joke festival go on sale Tuesday (December 7) and will be released widely on Friday (December 10) here.

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