Back in October, Dave Chappelle’s name was attached to positive headlines associated with his high school alma mater. Washington, DC’s Duke Ellington School of the Arts celebrated the legendary comedian at the time.

However, a scheduled fundraiser for Duke Ellington School involving Dave Chappelle was reportedly called off. Some students apparently took issue with comments Chappelle made about the transgender community during his The Closer special on Netflix.

The Duke Ellington School event, which was raising money for a new theater that was going to be named after Dave Chappelle, was initially planned for November 23. According to reports, a group of students threatened to walk out of the school in protest of Chappelle.



Dave Chappelle addressed supposedly being uninvited to his former school while on stage in Indianapolis last week. The Indy Star reports Chappelle repeatedly mention being “canceled” and specifically reacted to Duke Ellington School students planning a public demonstration.

“They’re canceling stuff I didn’t even want to do,” Dave Chappelle is quoted telling the crowd inside Gainbridge Fieldhouse. He also reportedly said, “If you think you’re mad at me – remember, I didn’t disinvite you from anything.”

Several LGBTQ organizations took issue with Dave Chappelle using The Closer to promote TERF (Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminism) which critics argue is a movement against transgender rights legislation. In response, Dave Chappelle publicly expressed, “If this is what being canceled is about, I love it.”