The woke mob still reigns supreme in Minneapolis as it succeeded in getting comedian Dave Chappelle’s show cancelled at the famed First Avenue concert venue just hours before he was scheduled to perform. The leftist outcry stems from Chappelle’s Netflix comedy special “The Closer,” that the mob claims Chappelle disrespected trans people by joking about them.
As reported by Breitbart, industry rag “Variety” said that First Avenue was inundated with complaints via social media, and as such felt compelled to cancel the show. In a statement announcing the cancellation, First Avenue said that it “lost sight of the impact” Dave Chappelle’s appearance would have, and “we know we let you down.”
“To staff, artists and our community, we hear you and we are sorry. We know we must hold ourselves to the highest standards, and we know we let you down. We are not just a black box with people in it, and we understand that First Ave is not just a room, but meaningful beyond our walls.”
First Avenue claims it has worked diligently to create a venue it considers to be “the safest in the country,” but is also committed to “the freedom of artistic expression.” However, with the cancellation of Chappelle’s show, it is clear which of these won out:
“We believe in diverse voices and the freedom of artistic expression, but in honoring that, we lost sight of the impact this would have. We know there are some who would not agree with this decision; you are welcome to send feedback.”
But the show must go on, and it will at the Varsity Theater 2.5 miles on the other side of the Mississippi River near the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities campus. The Varsity is set to host more of the comedian’s shows this week.
Dave Chappelle show canceled by 'woke' theater, changes venue at last minute https://t.co/7tqznUEtJt pic.twitter.com/HMWiGNJJoT
— New York Post (@nypost) July 21, 2022
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Apart from the controversy surrounding “The Closer,” Chappelle was hit with backlash after his former high school, Duke Ellington School of The Arts, was set to name its performing arts theatre after him. At a Q&A session with over 600 students, Chappelle was accused by a woke student group of endangering transgender lives with his Netflix special, and handling criticism of it “like a child.” At a recent dedication ceremony, Chappelle announced that the theater’s name would not be after him, but instead was to be called the Theater for Artistic Freedom and Expression and organized a fundraising challenge between the two-name camps.
At the delayed dedication ceremony, Chappelle called out the woke activists, appealing to the importance of free speech:
“These kids didn’t understand that they were instruments of artistic oppression,” Chappelle said at the ceremony. “The more you say I can’t say something, the more urgent it is for me to say it.”
However, despite Chappelle’s announcing the name change challenge, the school stuck with its original plan to name the theatre after the comedian, citing the wishes of their late co-founder to do so:
“While we appreciate Dave’s impromptu and spirited fundraising initiative, we stand behind our decision to honor the wishes of our co-founder, the late Peggy Cooper Cafritz, to name the theatre after Chappelle,” a statement from the school said at the time. “All donations will go towards arts programming and every donor, irrespective of their support or opposition to the theater naming, will receive an official thank you from our team.”
Since Chappelle’s performance moved to the new venue, the Varsity Theatre has had to add new shows, which are quickly selling out.