Dave Chapelle's 'The Closer' special nominated for two Emmy's despite 'transphobia' controversy

Dave Chapelle's stand up comedy special "The Closer'' received two Emmy nominations Tuesday despite the controversy it created.

Chapelle's solo show was nominated in the "Variety Special (Pre-Recorded)" category and the show's director Stan Lathan was nominated for "Outstanding Directing For A Variety Special."

Chapelle's "The Closer" debuted in early October 2021 and was immediately panned by mainstream media as being "transphobic" and "ridiculing trans people."

Critic Eric Deggans wrote for NPR television that, "Too often in The Closer, it just sounds like Chappelle is using white privilege to excuse his own homophobia and transphobia."

"Gender is a fact," Chappelle  said during the program while defending author J.K. Rowling against critics who called her transphobic. "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," said Chappelle.

His comments earned him considerable pushback from The National Black Justice Coalition, an LGBTQ advocacy organization, who urged Netflix to remove "The Closer" from its platform. They said the media giant "should know better."

On October 20, Netflix employees staged a walkout over the comedy special but were met with counter protesters shouting that "jokes are funny."

The radical gender ideology activists gave Chappelle a list of demands and a chance to apologize. Dave Chappelle refused to apologize to the triggered trans activists in reply.

"I said what I said," commented Chappelle while noting he'd meet with the activists but not under their demands or conditions. He said he wouldn't cave to "anybody's demands" and that he wouldn't be "summoned."

"If this is what being canceled is like, I love it," Chappelle said of the matter.

Chappelle's "The Closer" has a 40 percent critic rating on Rotten Tomatoes and a 95 percent positive rating from regular viewers.