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Comedian Dave Chappelle aired his COVID-era documentary “Dave Chappelle: Live In Real Life” at a film festival in Martha’s Vineyard on Friday after the original release failed due to backlash over his 2021 Netflix special “The Closer.”
“I’ve gone on to get snubbed by the Grammys and the Emmys because someone thought it was a good idea to tell trans jokes,” he told the audience on Friday after screening the movie, according to Variety.
Chappelle’s Netflix special included jokes about transgender people, prompting backlash from the LGBTQ+ community.
Several Netflix employees protested Chappelle’s special at the time.
DAVE CHAPPELLE ADDRESSES BACKLASH, SAYS PEOPLE WANT TO TAKE ‘NUANCE’ OUT OF SPEECH IN AMERICAN CULTURE
Dave Chappelle speaks at the premiere of “Dave Chappelle: Live In Real Life” during the 2025 Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival at Martha’s Vineyard Performing Arts Center on August 08, 2025. (Photo by Arturo Holmes/Getty Images)
Chappelle hosted comedy shows in 2020 with musicians and other comedians with several safety protocols in place until someone in Chappelle’s inner circle was exposed to COVID-19. The shows were recorded and turned into a documentary, which Chappelle aired on Friday at the Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival.
“It took a lot of courage for all of those comedians to come out there because COVID was so new. Everyone was still so isolated, and it was real fear,” he said.
“And the other thing is, no one had worked in a hundred nights. Everyone stunk when they got there, but it didn’t matter. It was so much fun to be together again. It was just like when we all started in the comedy club, we realized how much we loved being around each other,” Chappelle continued.
CHAPPELLE EXPLAINS WHY HE SAID HE’D GIVE TRUMP A CHANCE DURING HIS 2016 ‘SNL’ MONOLOGUE
Dave Chappelle speaks at the premiere of “Dave Chappelle: Live In Real Life” benefitting the Duke Ellington School of the Arts during the 2025 Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival at Martha’s Vineyard Performing Arts Center on August 08, 2025 in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts. (Photo by Arturo Holmes/Getty Images)
The screening at the film festival was part of Chappelle’s efforts to raise funds for the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, D.C., his alma mater.
“Ellington gave me a sense of community,” he said. “It was a predominantly Black school when I went there, and that was important because everything in the news was so negative.”
His COVID-era comedy shows took place in Yellow Springs, Ohio, Chappelle’s home. He told the audience that the shows brought $9 million to the town’s economy, Variety reported.
“If you want things to change, you have to change s—,” he said.
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SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE — “Dave Chappelle” Episode 1710 — Pictured: Host Dave Chappelle during the monologue on November 12, 2016 — (Photo by: Will Heath/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images) (Photo by: Will Heath/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty Images via Getty Images)
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The documentary included appearances by David Letterman, Chris Rock, Kevin Hart and more.
