Damon Wayans Defends Dave Chappelle, Says He Freed Comedy "Slaves"

Like most comedians, Damon Wayans is on Dave Chappelle’s side.

Source: Johnny Nunez / Getty

Chappelle has been at the receiving end of relentless backlash following the release of his latest special, The Closer, with many raising concerns over transphobia and homophobia within his stand-up. Of course, not everyone is against the comedian, with Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos saying that he doesn’t believe Dave’s special was “designed to incite hate or violence,” refusing to take the special off of their streaming service.

Now, another voice is showing support for Dave, with fellow comedian Damon Wayans talking about the subject 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 that, 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,” he continued.

Wayans went on to say 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.”

Check out what he had to say down below: