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  • The Atlantic

    Dave Chappelle’s Not Kidding

    The comedian’s proposal to defer having his name on his high school’s theater might seem conciliatory. But it’s a big bet on what he believes.
    by David Frum Jun 21, 2022 4 minutes
    Source: Shannon Finney / Getty

    Updated at 11:22 a.m. ET on June 22, 2022.

    The comedian Dave Chappelle returned to his hometown of Washington, D.C., Monday night—and to a painful controversy.

    Chappelle is a graduate of—and generous donor to—Washington’s Duke Ellington School of the Arts. In 2017, the school completed an ambitious renovation. To express recognition and thanks to Chappelle, the school proposed to name its theater for him.

    The naming ceremony had been for November 2021, shortly after the release of Chappelle’s Netflix special . That special featured a series of jokes about transgender claims. Notably, Chappelle insisted in blunt, earthy language on his view that gender, sex, and childbirth are biological facts. Those words triggered and protests, including at Chappelle’s former high school. With Chappelle’s approval, the school delayed the naming ceremony.

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