Dave Chappelle visits the high school alma mater and faces complaints from students.
Weeks after student complaints led DC’s Duke Ellington School of the Arts to postpone naming a theater in honor of the student, Dave Chappelle, the comic took on students who disagreed with its Most recent special, “The Closer”.
Political reports that Chappelle, 48, participated in a question-and-answer session Tuesday with staff and 580 students, where he was greeted with “a raucous reception of cheers and some boos.”
Eight students are reported to have questioned Chappelle about the special and the jokes he made. in reference to the trans community, with one who supposedly called him “intolerant” and told the comic: “I am 16 years old and I think you are childish, you handled it like a child.”
Chappelle reportedly replied, “My friend, with all due respect, I don’t think you can make one of the decisions that I have to make on any given day.”
In response to another question, Politico did not report word for word, but claimed it was “antagonistic”, the creator of “Chappelle Show” told the student body: “I am better than any 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 a household name soon. ”
The two students who spoke to Politico claim that all of Chappelle’s responses involved him laughing or joking.
Despite the tension between Chappelle and many students, the Grammy winner took the time to address fans who threatened students on his behalf.
“His whole tone changed,” one of the students told Politico. “He said, ‘This is my family and whether they know it or not, I love these kids. I don’t want to hear about threats to these children. These kids don’t deserve that. ‘
“He was very kind. Yes [only] he [had] he acted that way the whole time … There was no reason to be mean to us. He only laughed at the children. ”
During his visit, Chappelle also handed out 600 Thanksgiving meals and tickets to the screening of his new documentary, “Untitled.”