It’s been nearly two months since Dave Chappelle’s comedy special, The Closer premiered on Netflix, but the 48-year-old is still facing backlash for the comments he made (and continues to make) in the show. Just a few days ago, he decided to face some of his critics head on by hosting a Q&A session at his old high school, D.C.’s Duke Ellington School of the Arts.
The Half Baked actor encouraged those who have taken issue with his words to step up to the microphone and air their grievances. As TMZ notes, the session with Chappelle was supposed to take place awhile back, but was postponed – potentially because of the backlash coming at the comedian.
Nearly 600 teenagers attended the assembly, and things got off to a rough start when half the crowd booed Chappelle upon entry, while the other half cheered. One of the students called the Washington native a “bigot,” also saying, “I’m 16 and I think you’re childish. You handled it like a child.
The star coolly responded, “my friend, with all due respect, I don’t believe you could make one of the decisions I have to make on a given day.” Elsewhere, Chappelle upset the crowd by saying, “I’m better than every instrumentalist, artist, no matter what art you do in this school, right now. I’m better than all of you. I’m sure that will change, I’m sure you’ll be household names soon.”
One audience member yelled out, “your comedy kills,” to which The Nutty Professor star replied, “n*ggas are killed every day.” The rest of the questions were reportedly answered in a similar manner, with Chappelle offering no sort of apology or acknowledgment of his alleged wrongdoings.
TMZ notes that a camera crew was in tow, and because of this, many students felt intimidated, and that there was a clear power imbalance that was being exploited. At the end of the event, Chappelle offered tickets to his new documentary film to the students, and his representative sent out a statement. “He said these kids deserve an F for forgiveness." Also adding, "give them some space to grow. They are going to say things that are immature."
What do you think of Dave Chappelle’s responses to his teen critics? Let us know in the comments.
[Via]