Dave Chappelle declined to name a theater at his high school in Washington, D.C. after transgender jokes in his latest stand-up show, reports said.
Duke Ellington School of the Arts planned a Monday ceremony honoring Chappelle’s “ongoing commitment and service to the school and advocacy for the arts.”
The building will now be known as the Theater for Artistic Freedom and Expression.
When Chappelle visited his alma mater in November, he said he was “sincerely hurt” by student blowback to his provocative Netflix special “The Closer.”
“I took a lot of cold shots in business… but that day, they hurt me,” Chappelle told those gathered, according to USA Today.
The iconic comedian defended his special as well as his right to free speech.
“No matter what they say about ‘The Closer,’ it is still (one of the) most watched specials on Netflix,” he said. “The more you say I can’t say something, the more urgent it is for me to say it. It has nothing to do with what you are saying I can’t say. It has everything to do with my freedom of artistic expression.”
