More than a year after Dave Chappelle came under fire for making transphobic jokes in his Netflix special, The Closer, the comedian went on to win Best Comedy Album at Sunday night’s (Feb. 5) Grammy Awards.
Chappelle, who now has four Grammys, took home the award for the comedy special over Louis C.K. (Sorry), Jim Gaffigan (Comedy Monster), Randy Rainbow (A Little Brains, A Little Talent) and Patton Oswalt (We All Scream).
Regarding the nominations for Chappelle and C.K., who won the award last year for Sincerely, Louis C.K. despite his sexual misconduct allegations, Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. told The Hollywood Reporter that they “don’t control who the voters vote for.”
He added, “If the voters feel like a creator deserves a nomination, they’re going to vote for them. We’re never going to be in the business of deciding someone’s moral position or where we evaluate them to be on the scale of morality. I think our job is to evaluate the art and the quality of the art. We can make sure that all of our spaces are safe and people don’t feel threatened by anyone. But as far as the nominations or the awards, we really let the voters make that decision.”
The Closer, which came out in October 2021, sparked backlash when Chappelle joked about trans women and defended controversial remarks made by rapper DaBaby (who went on a homophobic rant) and Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, who has been openly anti-trans.
As a result, GLAAD called out the comedian for “ridiculing trans people,” and a walk out was staged at Netflix for the streamer’s decision to release and defend the comedy special.
Chappelle later doubled down on his remarks, telling his Instagram following, “I said what I said,” and that he was “not bending to anybody’s demands.” He also denied reports that he refused an invitation to speak with transgender employees at Netflix.
“That is not true — if they had invited me I would have accepted it, although I am confused about what we would be speaking about,” he said. “I said what I said, and boy, I heard what you said. My God, how could I not? You said you want a safe working environment at Netflix. It seems like I’m the only one that can’t go to the office anymore.”
While The Closer was the last of a six-special deal with Netflix, the streamer announced in February 2022 that the comedian would headline another four specials.
