(Headline USA) Comedian Dave Chappelle plans to open his own comedy clubs across the country to promote “free thought” and fight back against woke culture, according to a recent profile in the Wall Street Journal.
The popular stand-up comedian has rankled the Left for the past several years by frequently cracking jokes about the more absurd parts of its agenda, such as transgenderism.
His 2021 Netflix special The Closer, for example, led to a protest by Netflix employees who demanded the streaming service remove it.
Now Chappelle hopes to bring comedy to smaller audiences in clubs of his own. He already has plans to open a club in his hometown of Yellow Springs, Ohio; and he is moving to open another in Washington, D.C., the Journal reported.
Chappelle has held three stand-up shows for audiences in his Yellow Springs club. He reportedly told the crowd it was one of his proudest achievements and that he hoped it would become a haven for free thinkers and artists.
“It’s just freedom,” said Brent Martin, a realtor from Mississippi, who traveled to see Chappelle in Memphis, Tenn., last year. “I can laugh at what he says, or I can dismiss it, or I can be offended. But that’s fine, because the next thing he says will probably be funny.”
Chappelle has defended wading into cultural hot topics, telling a crowd in Washington, D.C. last year, “The more you say I can’t say something, the more urgent it is for me to say it.”
He said he hopes his comedy clubs will not just attract crowds who appreciate having their views challenged, but comedians who are also willing to take on the woke mob.
“If we build this thing, I will tell you, all the greats will come,” Chappelle said last year. “They’re very excited about it.”
