Netflix quintuples down with new Chappelle-produced stand-up series
Earthquake and Chappelle's Show mainstay Donnell Rawlings will headline the first two Chappelle-hosted specials
Never let it be said that Netflix isn’t willing to double, and then triple, and then many-multiples-uple down on its sometimes disappointing convictions. To wit: The streaming service reiterated its commitment to being in the Dave Chappelle business earlier today, when it announced a new series of stand-up specials all produced by the comedian, who’s come under heavy criticism in recent years for transphobic material in his own work.
The four-special series is being titled Chappelle’s Home Team, and will feature four comics hand-picked by Chappelle, all stand-up veterans. First up: Earthquake, whose new special, Legendary, will debut on February 28 on the streamer. Next up will be Chappelle’s Show mainstay Donnell Rawlings; no date or title for Rawlings’ special has been set as of yet.
Chappelle—who will appear in each special to introduce the comedians—offered up a quote for the press release that went out today, saying, “I‘ve been doing this a long time and comedians like Quake and Donnell are not only friends but have inspired my own career. Anyone in the comedy community knows these names and knows their time to shine is long overdue. I am proud to be a part of this moment.”
Netflix has come under fire in recent months for its continued embrace of Chappelle, whose material on specials like Sticks And Stones and especially last year’s The Closer has often taken aim at critics who would like Dave Chappelle to stop doing things like, say, using his massive platform to tell audiences of millions that trans women aren’t real women.
(He also caught flack online recently for throwing his weight around in a town council meeting where he helped kill an affordable housing initiative in the Ohio town where he lives.)
No word yet on who the other two Home Team comics will be; Chappelle also hasn’t given any indications that he’s gearing up to record another special for Netflix himself, although a documentary about him, Live In Real Life, came out late last year.