Dave Chappelle may have earned an Emmy nomination last week for his controversial special The Closer , but today the comic was pulled from one of Minneapolis’ storied venues for his often hurtful take on the transgender community.
Just hours before the Mark Twain Award winner took the stage on First Avenue in the Minnesota metropolis, organizers pulled the plug on the sold-out show. Citing a backlash against Chappelle’s perceived transphobic remarks, First Avenue management canceled his protested performance at the venue and moved it to the nearby Varsity Theatre.
Here’s what First Avenue had to say earlier today:
The Varsity Theater took to Twitter soon after on Wednesday to reinforce the venue change:
Attention Dave Chappelle fans! The show scheduled for tonight at First Ave has now been moved to the Varsity Theatre. Your tickets from First Ave will be honored. Doors open at 20:00 and early arrival is highly recommended.
This event will be a phone-free experience. pic.twitter.com/khrphPmqZo
— Varsity Theater (@VarsityTheater) July 20, 2022
Representatives for Chappelle, who was previously scheduled to perform two other shows at the Varsity tomorrow and on July 22, did not respond to a request for comment from Deadline about First Avenue’s cancellation. Tickets for Chappelle’s concert at First Avenue were suddenly released on July 18 and sold out in minutes for the 1,550-capacity main hall facility.
For those of you who live under a rock or need a lesson in cultural anthropology, First Avenue is the club that featured prominently in Prince’s iconic 1984 film Purple Rain. Although First Avenue was never officially designated as a historic landmark , as many believe it should be, the venue celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2020. Chappelle has played the venue numerous times throughout his career.
Even though Chappelle’s The Closer sparked a backlash and even some Netflix employee firings and resignations over protests over its attacks on the transgender community, TV Academy voters still saw fit to give the July 12 special an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded) category.
In his What’s in a Name? special released on Netflix last month, Chappelle showed little understanding of the pain he may have caused. In fact, he called The Closer a “masterpiece.” Citing a meeting with upset students at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, D.C., where Chappelle himself graduated from high school, the comic dismissed their concerns about his material and his POV on transgender rights as mere “talking heads” that lack insight into its artistic nuance.
“The more you say I can’t say something, the more urgent it is for me to say it,” Chappelle said in a 40-minute speech about naming the school’s theater. “And it has nothing to do with what you say, I can’t say.” It has everything to do with my right, my freedom of artistic expression.
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