Comedian Dave Chappelle's former high school, the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, D.C., stated on Sunday it would move forward in naming a theater after him, according to The Hill.
''While we appreciate Dave's impromptu and spirited fundraising initiative, we stand behind our decision to honor the wishes of our co-founder, the late Peggy Cooper Cafritz, to name the theatre after Chappelle,'' the school said in a Nov. 28 statement.
''Although it appears that the clear majority of students at Ellington favor naming the theater for Dave Chappelle, we are seizing this moment to demonstrate the importance of carefully listening to every voice within our diverse and inclusive community,'' the statement read.
The decision affirmed a Nov. 12 official statement that pushed the commemoration of the theater to Chappelle to April 22 of next year from Nov. 23.
Chappelle angered many in the Duke Ellington student body with his October Netflix special ''The Closer,'' which targeted the controversial issue of transgender people.
''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,'' Chappelle said in the special. ''That is a fact.''
Chappelle also said he was a ''TERF,'' or trans-exclusionary radical feminist, signaling support for author J K. Rowling, who was criticized for allegedly being a TERF while identifying as a feminist and a leftist, Glamour reported.
The comedian answered questions from students last week at a fundraiser for the future theater at the school. One student reportedly called him ''childish'' and a ''bigot,'' per Politico's Playbook.
On Saturday, Chappelle said in an Instagram post said he would accept the outcome of a fundraising contest in which donations to the school could go toward either condoning or condemning the theater's name change.
The school has rejected this proposal and will name it after him regardless of the winner, according to The Hill.
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