Damon Wayans Throws Full Support Behind Dave Chappelle, Says He Freed Comedy 'Slaves' From 'PC Culture'

Wayans showed his support for the fellow comedian’s latest move, saying he feels like Chappelle "freed the slaves" of comedy with his latest Netflix special.

Damon Wayans is standing by Dave Chappelle amid criticism over his latest Netflix special. 

Chappelle has seen plenty of backlash, and some support, following the release of The Closer this past week, with many raising concerns over transphobia and homophobia within the special. Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos, however, shared that he doesn’t believe Dave’s special was “designed to incite hate or violence.”

Wayans showed his support for the fellow comedian’s latest move, too, in an interview with TMZ on Tuesday.

“I feel like Dave freed the slaves,” Wayans said. “The comedians, we were slaves to PC culture and he just, you know, as an artist he’s Van Gogh. Cut his ear off, he’s trying to tell us it’s OK.”

When asked if he feels moving forward he’ll feel more free to be himself in his comedy, Wayans responded that he’s “always been free.”

“I just feel like he’s saying, ‘All that I have, I’m not afraid to lose it for the sake of freedom of speech. You can’t edit yourself. Comedians, we’re like… Mercedes makes a great car. But they gotta crash a lot of them before they perfect it.”

Wayans continued and shared that there’s a “bigger conversation” that needs to be had. “Someone needs to look us in the eye and say, ‘You’re no longer free in this country. You’re not free to say what you want, you say what we want you to say. Otherwise we will cancel you,’” Wayans said. “That’s the discussion we should have.”

Two months ago, Wayans talked about Chappelle, saying he’d want to do a comedian edition of Verzuz alongside Dave. When asked who he sees himself compete against, he dropped the comedian’s name pretty quickly, saying he’s “calling him out.” Only time will tell if the duo will duke it out in a one-on-one eventually. 

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