Dave Chappelle, the man who cannot be cancelled, has won yet another Grammy award thanks to his most recent special The Closer.
In the 2023 Best Comedy Album category, the legendary comedian beat the likes of Louis CK (Sorry), Jim Gaffigan (Comedy Monster), Randy Rainbow (A Little Brains, A Little Talent), as well as Patton Oswalt (We All Scream) for the top honour. As Chappelle was not in attendance for the ceremony itself due to his ongoing Australian tour, it was accepted on his behalf by presenter Babyface.
Considering the backlash Dave Chappelle faced for the “transphobic” material featured in The Closer – to the point where Netflix employees staged walkouts as a form of protest – in addition to the fact Louis CK (Sincerely, Louis CK) won last year’s Grammy for Best Comedy Album in the aftermath of his sexual misconduct revelations, reactions to this development haven’t been completely positive.
“We don’t control who the voters vote for. If the voters feel like a creator deserves a nomination, they’re going to vote for them,” Harvey Mason Jr, CEO of the Recording Academy, recently told The Hollywood Reporter while addressing the “controversy” surrounding Chappelle and CK’s nominations.
“We’re never going to be in the business of deciding someone’s moral position or where we evaluate them to be on the scale of morality. I think our job is to evaluate the art and the quality of the art.”
“We can make sure that all of our spaces are safe and people don’t feel threatened by anyone. But as far as the nominations or the awards, we really let the voters make that decision.”
Politics aside, some have simply taken issue with the fact The Closer wasn’t up to Chappelle’s usual standard.
As alluded to in the headline above, this marks Dave Chappelle’s fourth Grammy win after the following:
- 2022 – Best Spoken World Album (Includes Poetry, Audio Books, & Storytelling) for 8:48
- 2020 – Best Comedy Album for Dave Chappelle: Sticks & Stones
- 2019 – Best Comedy Album for Dave Chappelle: Equanimity & The Bird Revelation
- 2018 – Best Comedy Album for Dave Chappelle: The Age of Spin
