Netflix will be hosting a comedy festival next year featuring comedian Dave Chappelle.
The streaming service announced Sunday the “Netflix Is A Joke: The Festival” will be held from April 28 to May 8 of 2022.
Chapelle’s show, “Dave Chappelle and Friends,” will be held at the Hollywood Bowl venue. The festival will feature more than 130 artists, including Amy Poehler, Amy Schumer, Aziz Ansari, Chris Rock, Ellen DeGeneres, and Tina Fey.
It will also occur across more than 25 venues, including Dodger Stadium, The Greek Theatre, The Forum, The Theatre at Ace Hotel, and The Orpheum Theatre.
“It’s absolutely thrilling for Netflix to be hosting a comedy festival of this magnitude in Los Angeles,” Robbie Praw, director of Stand-up and Comedy Formats, said in a statement.
He continued, “We were so disappointed to postpone the event last spring, and our line-up of comedians can’t wait to bring much needed laughs to audiences in LA and around the world on Netflix. Netflix Is A Joke Festival is going to give comedy fans the opportunity to see the greats and discover new voices in one of the greatest cities in the world.”
Chappelle faced criticism following his recent Netflix special “The Closer” when he made controversial remarks surrounding the LGBTQ community.
In October, Ted Sarandos, the company’s co-CEO and chief content officer, defended Chappelle and his special.
“Chappelle is one of the most popular stand-up comedians today, and we have a long-standing deal with him. His last special, ‘Sticks & Stones,’ also controversial, is our most-watched, stickiest, and most award-winning stand-up special to date,” Sarandos said.
He added, “As with our other talent, we work hard to support their creative freedom — even though this means there will always be content on Netflix some people believe is harmful.”
Sarandos noted several have asked where Netflix draws the line on hate.
“We don’t allow titles [on] Netflix that are designed to incite hate or violence, and we don’t believe ‘The Closer’ crosses that line,” he said.
Sarandos continued, “Particularly in stand-up comedy, artistic freedom is obviously a very different standard of speech than we allow internally as the goals are different: entertaining people versus maintaining a respectful, productive workplace.”
