Dave Chappelle's Latest Netflix Special Is Offending To Critics

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Comedian Dave Chappelle’s latest stand-up comedy special, “Sticks and Stones,” premiered on Netflix last week — and it immediately faced a firestorm of criticism for its jokes.

Many of the jokes were perceived as tone-deaf and hurtful, particularly those which used various groups of people as punchlines, such as women, sexual assault victims, Asians and members of the LGBTQ community — transgender people in particular.

Many characterized these jokes as gratuitously cruel. Will this round of criticism affect his career negatively, and will Netflix, which paid $60 million in 2016 for five stand-up specials from the comedian, lose subscribers as a result?

If the critics alone are anything to go by, both Chappelle and Netflix may have reason to worry.

Inkoo Kang of Slate compared “Sticks and Stones” to “dropping in on a rascally uncle who doesn’t know, or doesn’t care, how much he’s disappointing you… his jokes make you wince.” Garrett Martin of Paste said that the show “is terrible not because audiences have changed, but because Chappelle himself is so thoroughly out of touch with today.” Martin pulled no punches when he wrote simply, ”‘Sticks and Stones’ is terrible, and Chappelle can only blame himself for that.”

Despite this critical response, family and relationship therapist Fran Walfish said that it’s unlikely the comedian will pay any price for it. She chalked that up to ignorance about the LGBTQ community on the part of the general public.

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