Dave Chappelle is hosting ‘SNL’ tonight. Here is a timeline of the controversy surrounding his transgender jokes | CNN

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Tonight, Dave Chappelle will host “Saturday Night Live” for the third time – a performance that causes controversy before it even takes the stage.

The comedian has drawn increasing ire in recent years for making jokes aimed at transgender people, and the outcry grew louder last fall when Netflix released a Chappelle special, The Closer, in which he doubled down on his comments.

Netflix stood by Chappelle, who went on a national tour after the special and largely ignored the controversy after addressing it in his act.

But his comments drew criticism from fellow comics, fans, trans advocates and some Netflix employees, and a Minnesota venue canceled a Chappelle show this year over the controversy.

Given that context, that was it surprising for some “SNL” viewers to see him invited back to Studio 8H. Here’s a look at Chappelle’s recent history of joking about trans people — and the resulting backlash.

August: In a series of stand-up shows in New York City Radio City Music Hall, Chappelle made jokes aimed at trans people for at least 20 minutes, Vulture reported. He made explicit jokes about trans people’s bodies, including referring to trans people as “transgender,” Vulture said.

These weren’t the first jokes Chappelle had made at the expense of trans people. But he delivered them to New York afterwards to draw some backlash for previous comments.

“This joke and others in this section suffer from the same problems as those from his specials – they are rooted in disgust and generalization,” Vulture wrote of a Chappelle joke about ISIS fighters appalled by transgender soldiers. “You’re just not good.”

26th of August: Netflix released a stand-up special, Sticks and Stones, in which Chappelle demonstrated more material about trans people, including some content from his Radio City shows. In an afterword for the special, he mentioned his friend Daphne Dorman, a trans comedian, who he said laughed the hardest at his jokes about trans people.

5th October: Netflix released Chappelle’s special, The Closer. In it, he goes into detail about transgender people and makes several jokes at their expense. He confuses a trans comedian, makes explicit jokes about trans women’s bodies again, and defends TERFs, or trans-excluded radical feminists.

He also referred to trans people as “transgender”, stated that “gender is a fact” and later said Dorman died by suicide shortly after being criticized by other trans people for defending Chappelle after “Sticks and Stones”. .

At the time of Chappelle’s Special’s publication, at least 33 states had enacted anti-transgender laws, many targeting young transgender people.

October 13: Amid calls from LGBTQ advocates, fellow comedians, Netflix employees and social justice organizations to pull the special, Netflix stood by Chappelle.

In a letter received by Verge and Variety, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos told employees the special will continue to be available to stream.

“We don’t allow titles on Netflix intended to incite hatred or violence, and we don’t think The Closer crosses that line… Some people find the art of getting up mean, but our members enjoy it, and it’s an important part.” of our content offering,” wrote Sarandos.

Netflix has suspended three employees for attending a virtual directors’ meeting to discuss the special without notifying the organizer of the meeting in advance. Among them was Terra Field, a trans senior software engineer who had publicly criticized the special and Netflix. Her suspension was later reversed.

October 19: Sarandos told Variety he “screwed up” his communications with Netflix employees, but reiterated that he didn’t think the special qualified as “hate speech.”

the 20th of October: Around 65 protesters, including Netflix employees and trans advocates, took part in a strike to protest Netflix’s support for The Closer. The protesters called on Netflix to hire more trans and non-binary executives and fund more trans and non-binary talent.

24 October: Three trans standup comics told CNN they were disappointed by Chappelle’s jokes, though all three said they once viewed the acclaimed performer as a comedy inspiration. While everyone agreed that jokes about transgender people aren’t offensive per se, they said Chappelle’s set was steeped in the same hateful rhetoric and language used by anti-transgender critics.

“When he talks about the trans community, he’s not talking about it, he’s speaking out against it,” comedian Nat Puff told CNN. “And that’s the difference between something funny about the trans community and something offensive about the trans community.”

A fourth comic, Flame Monroe, one of the few trans comics whose material streams on Netflix, told CNN she believes Chappelle should be allowed to joke about trans people, although she was initially surprised by some of his comments was.

October 25: Addressing critics at a show in Nashville, Chappelle appeared alongside Joe Rogan, the podcast host who has been criticized for, among other things, dismissing the effectiveness of vaccines and using racial slurs.

Chappelle posted videos from the set on his official Instagram account, in which he appeared to address Netflix’s trans workers who took part in the strike over “The Closer.”

“It seems like I’m the only one who can’t go to the office anymore,” he said.

“I want everyone in this audience to know that while the media makes it seem like I’m against this community, that’s not the case,” continued Chappelle. “Don’t blame the LBGTQ (sic) community for any of this s—. This has nothing to do with them. It’s about company interests and what I can and can’t say.”

“For the record – and I want you to know this – everyone I know from this community has been nothing but loving and supportive. So I don’t know what all this nonsense is about.”

July 12: The Closer was nominated for two Emmys, including Outstanding Variety Special (Pre-Recorded). Adele later won the category.

21 July: A Minneapolis venue canceled Chappelle’s sold-out show hours before it opened and apologized to “staff, artists and our community” after receiving criticism for hosting Chappelle.

“We believe in diverse voices and freedom of artistic expression, but in acknowledging that we lost sight of the impact,” wrote First Avenue, the venue famous for its role in Prince’s Purple Rain film .

November 5th: “Saturday Night Live” announced Chappelle would be his post-midterm host. That setback was quickly.

Set up joked on Twitter: “Wait, I thought I canceled it (sic). Is it possible that abandonment culture isn’t a real thing?

November 10th: After the New York Post reported that several “SNL” writers were boycotting Saturday’s episode, Chappelle’s reps told CNN there were no writer or cast issues. Current “SNL” collaborators include non-binary performer Molly Kearney and non-binary author Celeste Yim.

Chappelle will be live on stage at 11:30pm ET on Saturday.