Comedian Hannah Gadsby, whose latest special with Netflix, Something Special, is currently streaming on the platform, is no stranger to controversy or to beefing with fellow comedian Dave Chappelle, who called Gadsby unfunny in 2021 and whose fans have been ruthless towards Gadsby ever since.
In a new interview with Variety, Gadsby commented on their feelings about Chappelle, who stoked outrage with his anti-trans comments in his Netflix special The Closer, also released in 2021. Gadsby has always been staunch in their advocacy for genderqueer performers and the rights of trans people.
In their latest special, Gadsby does not mention Chappelle. “I didn’t think he said anything that I was interested in, and that’s what I would have to do in order to talk about Dave Chappelle—I would have to begin with Dave Chappelle, and I don’t want to,” Gadbsy explained to Variety.
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“It’s boring,” Gadsby said, referring to why they left Chappelle out of their special. “There was a time in the tour when it was certainly in front of my mind, and then it very quickly receded. My audience likes me because they don’t like the usual toxic perspective, and to talk about him would be to center his conversation—and I just don’t want that voice to be dictating how I approach my work.”
“I’m a genderqueer, autistic, vagina-wielding white person,” Gadbsy continued. “There could be a really interesting conversation between us, but I don’t think that’s going to happen. I don’t think there’s good faith on his part. He’s done three specials grinding down on the same points without any change in nuance, so I just think he’s on his track. Good on him. That is not my track.”
Asked if they would be open to having a conversation with Chappelle, Gadsby responded, “Apparently, I have to do it on his terms. So, no. I just think it’s a toxic place. I don’t think he’s open. I just don’t think it’s constructive. There’s just so much cruelty going on, and we both represent communities that are experiencing that cruelty, and I don’t want to stand in direct opposition to that.”
In the past, Gadbsy has publicly bristled at being lumped in with Chappelle.
“We are working hard to ensure marginalized communities aren’t defined by a single story,” Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos wrote in a staff memo in 2021. “So we have ‘Sex Education,’ ‘Orange is the New Black,’ ‘Control Z,’ Hannah Gadsby and Dave Chappelle all on Netflix. Key to this is increasing diversity on the content team itself.”
“Hey Ted Sarandos! Just a quick note to let you know that I would prefer if you didn’t drag my name into your mess,” Gadsby responded via Instagram. “Now I have to deal with even more of the hate and anger that Dave Chappelle’s fans like to unleash on me every time Dave gets 20 million dollars to process his emotionally stunted partial world view.”
