Dave Chappelle Recalls Moment Protesters Threw Eggs at Fans In Line For His Show
Dave Chappelle recently opened up about the lengths to which protesters went in trying to shut down a performance of his in Minneapolis.
According to Variety, the stand-up set was booked to take place last July at the First Avenue club in Minneapolis. The venue cancelled the show after they deemed some of Chappelle’s previous jokes to be transphobic.
Chappelle rebooked the show at a different venue but it didn’t stop protesters from trying to disrupt the event.
On a recent episode of Chappelle’s own podcast, The Midnight Miracle, he talked about the event in front of a live audience.
“I booked a show in Minneapolis at First Avenue, which is the best rock club in the United States, and they happily made a generous offer and the show was all set,” Chappelle said.
“Hours before the show — Literally, I was on a plane on the tarmac on my way to Minneapolis and the owners called me and they decided that they wanted to cancel the show. I guess apparently they had made a pledge to the public-at-large that they would make their club a safe space for all people and that they would ban anything they deemed transphobic,” he added.
“This is a wild stance for an artistic venue to take, especially one that’s historically a punk rock venue,” Chappelle said notating that this came after his viral Netflix comedy specials.
The comedian recalled that he was prepping for a bigger show in Madison Square Garden and decided to book three nights at a different venue.
“We ended up having to move the show to the Varsity Theater. Now there’s a picture of the two women, one that books the club and another woman that owns the club walking into my show at the Varsity Theater. The show that they had canceled,” Chappelle said.
“They came and people were taking these women over the coals for coming to the show after they canceled me. But what they were doing was coming to speak to me about said cancellation because I was upset. I wasn’t mad that they canceled the show. I was mad at the statement they released,” he added.
The First Avenue clubs statement read, “To staff, artists and our community. We hear you. And we are sorry.”
“To tell people we hear you was okay — fine. You hear them. But you’re sorry for booking me? What’s there to be sorry about, is the position that I was taking,” Chappelle recalled.
“So I get to the show that night, and of course protestors came — what a scene. You wouldn’t believe it. These were grown people of various genders and gender identities. They threw eggs. They threw eggs at the people who were lined up to see the show,” he said.
“One lady was so mad with the protestors, she picked up a police barricade. You ever seen them. They look like a bike rack. This bitch picked that barricade up by herself and threw it at the crowd. I gotta tell you, it’s an amazing feat of strength for a woman,” Chappelle concluded.
Listen above via The Midnight Miracle.
