Due to the intense backlash comedians like Dave Chappelle have received from cancel culture over nothing more than the jokes they present during a set, fellow comedian and television host, Steve Harvey, recently revealed a long list of comics who refuse to work out of fear of being canceled. Adding himself to that list, Harvey admitted that he would only do another stand-up special if it were the last one.
While on a press tour to promote his new courtroom show “Judge Steve Harvey”, the host told the Television Critics Association press, “The only way I can do one more special is if it’s at the end of my television career because it will end my television career. We’re in the cancel culture now. No stand-up that is sponsor-driven can say anything he wants to. Chris Rock can’t. Kevin Hart can’t. Cedric the Entertainer can’t. D.L. Hughley can’t. I can go down the list. The only person that can say what they want to say on stage is Dave Chappelle because he’s not sponsor-driven. He’s subscription-driven.”
For those who might have forgotten, comedian Dave Chappelle received major criticism for making a controversial statement during his Netflix special “The Closer”. He stated, “Gender is a fact. Every human being in this room, every human being on earth, had to pass through the legs of a woman to be on earth. That is a fact.”
NPR would write, “Too often in The Closer, it just sounds like Chappelle is using white privilege to excuse his own homophobia and transphobia.”
But while Chappelle clearly isn’t backing down, Harvey added, “If I had tried to continue as a stand-up, there’s no way I could maintain it. Political correctness has killed comedy. Every joke you tell now, it hurts somebody’s feelings. But what people don’t understand about comedians is that a joke has to be about something. It has to be about somebody. We can’t write jokes about puppies all the time. The joke can’t be about bushes all the time. Some of these jokes will have to be about people, because that’s the most interesting topic. So if I come back, I’ll have to wait until I’m done. And I’m not done. I want to do one more. I’ll probably have to call it ‘This Is It.’”
This piece was written by Jeremy Porter on January 14, 2022. It originally appeared in DrewBerquist.com and is used by permission.
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