During His Mark Twain American Humor Acceptance Speech, The Headliner Comes Out Of The Closet
Since 1998, comedians have been rewarded with a prestigious trophy in their own genre: The Mark Twain Prize for American Humor presented by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. It’s given to someone who has had an impact on American society in similar ways to Mark Twain. Why? Well, Twain was once considered a controversial social commentator with a unique perspective on social injustice. You may not be too familiar with the award, but heavyweight comedians like Lily Tomlin, Whoopi Goldberg, Carol Burnett, Ellen DeGeneres, Tina Fey, and many others have been recipients. Not surprisingly, the disgraced Bill Cosby was given the award in 2009, but since Cosby’s conviction, the title has been taken away from him.
This year, the honor was given to the one and only Dave Chappelle. Chappelle is a worldwide stand up comedian who hosted a successful comedy series on Comedy Central and has churned his opinion and experiences into five stand up specials for Netflix. Keyboard warriors who find anything and everything offensive came across Chappelle’s Netflix specials and deemed them wildly inappropriate and homophobic/transphobic, but those who have followed Chappelle for years know that he is an ally to the LGBTQ community and honesty, knee-slapping hysterical. This time around, Chappelle made a stunning announcement in his acceptance speech that left the entire audience with their mouths dropped.
As Chappelle spoke softly to an audience of his peers, he got a little emotional as he accepted their honorary title. During his speech, the camera would often pan to his wife and young daughter who were rooting him on in the audience. His biggest supporters and fans were also there, including Tiffany Haddish, Sarah Silverman, Chrissy Teigen, my celebrity crush Colin Jost, and tons more. Chappelle is known for chain smoking cigarettes on stage, something he states that he never asked to do… he just did it. He doesn’t focus on politics, but tells that he believes comedians are the ultimate people who uphold the first amendment (to have free speech) and he will continue to take advantage of the first amendment. Basically, he’s subtly calling out all of the politically correct Tweeters who have tried their best to cancel him. But during his acceptance speech, he makes a shockingly announcement that stuns the crowd: He’s gay. Yes, three minutes in Chappelle announces:
“I’m gay. I’m gay and I cannot wait to see what being gay does for my career!”
Obviously, he’s kidding, and it’s classic Chappelle. But, we are living in a world where I believe stars have come out solely for attention or an attempt to increase their fan base, like when former child star Aaron Carter did two years ago. Of course, this time is just another fun little satirical quip that Chappelle does – and it’s why he’ll have fans until the end of time.
Don’t forget to check out Chappelle’s hilarious acceptance speech, viewed over one million times in less than a day, in the video below:
Writer’s Note: This is the opinion of one Instinct Magazine contributor and does not reflect the views of Instinct Magazine itself or fellow contributors.
How to pigment your lips naturally? Bite them slightly from time to time,
the blood will spring to them and make them brighter.
A 3 month old joke about people “fake coming out” to get attention. First of all, is that really a trend? Second, how exactly is that about free speech? And third, why is a gay magazine writing about this?
“Keyboard warriors who find anything and everything offensive…” Did I just click into a right wing blog or am I mistaken? He was never funny. Wish he’d go back to his mental breakdown and into obscurity.
Come on Instinct, you’re better than this. The speech was from three months ago and he didn’t “come out.” It was a joke.