A bunch of kids at Dave Chappelle’s old high school were really not happy that he’s trying to raise money for them.
Duke Ellington School of the Arts delayed their fundraiser after students threatened to walk out over Chappelle’s controversial comments on transgender people.
In a statement, the school said:
“We recognize that not everyone will accept or welcome a particular artist’s point of view, product or craft, but reject the notion that a ‘cancel culture’ is a healthy or constructive means to teach our students how society should balance creative freedom with protecting the right and dignity of all of its members,”
Duke Ellington did accept that Chappelle has helped raise millions of dollars for the school, and said it plans to use the controversy as a “teachable moment”. Whatever that means.
“We’ve been working on a way to make sure the students understand what’s in the special,”
Chappelle replied to the school’s decision at a show in Indianapolis, making light of the situation, he said he “can’t even raise money for children”.
“They’re cancelling stuff I didn’t even want to do.”
Chappelle also recently addressed being canceled. And in true Chappelle fashion, he said he loves it.
“Man, I love being canceled,” Chappelle said at a recent show. “It is a huge relief. It’s like getting Capone on tax evasion.”
At the end of the show, he addressed the situation again.
“For the past three or four weeks, they’ve been saying in the news that I’ve been canceled. It doesn’t matter. The point is, no matter what they say, we are together.”
In the latest development, Chappelle visited the school and was greeted with boos.
According to Politico:
During a Q&A session, one student stepped to the mic and called Chappelle a “bigot,” adding, “I’m 16 and I think you’re childish, you handled it like a child,” according to two students present. The comments were confirmed by Chappelle’s spokesperson Carla Sims.
NO APOLOGIES: Chappelle responded, as recalled the next day by the students, “My friend, with all due respect, I don’t believe you could make one of the decisions I have to make on a given day.” That peeved some students who were hoping for an apology or some semblance of one from Chappelle.
And just wait until you hear Chappelle’s response:
“I’m better than every 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 household names soon.”
Priceless.
