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Is This Why Chappelle, Louis CK Are Snagging Awards Season Love?

'Canceled' comics reveal something shocking about Hollywood voters

If Dave Chappelle retired tomorrow his future obituary would read something like this.

“… Chappelle, who died at the age of 87, famously told transphobic jokes earlier in his career…”

Journalists can’t let the comedian’s willingness to poke fun at everyone go. They bring up last year’s “Closer” controversy again and again, quietly siding with his critics and suggesting he no longer deserves a place among comic royalty for telling trans jokes.

They’re doing it again this week.

Chappelle earned two Emmy nominations for “The Closer,” the 2021 Netflix special which infuriated a very small but vocal group of viewers. Variety snuck its outrage into the story’s headline:

Dave Chappelle Lands Emmy Nomination for ‘The Closer’ Despite Outrage Over Anti-Trans Jokes

The far-Left AV Club similarly clutched its pearls over the news.

Emmys reward transphobia with nomination for Dave Chappelle’s The Closer

It isn’t the only accolade he received for the hour-plus set.

Despite the controversy, “The Closer” nabbed two guild award nominations at the beginning of the year, from both the Directors Guild of America and Producers Guild of America.

The nominations come on the heels of Louis C.K.’s recent Grammy victory. The celebrated stand-up watched his career collapse in 2017 but not for telling the “wrong” jokes. He confessed to exposing himself in front of several female peers, a disgusting act that shocked longtime fans.

C.K. apologized and watched as everything he built over the past decade of his professional life evaporate. He retreated from the public but after time slowly reclaimed his career, gig by gig. He won’t be seen on HBO or Netflix anytime soon, if ever. Those willing to forgive him can support the new, independent phase of his career.

Some Grammy voters are willing to do just that. They honored him with Best Comedy Album for “Sincerely Louis C.K.” earlier this year.

But why?

RELATED: Why Artists Should Fear Cancel Culture

We’re told that Hollywood is a relentlessly woke industry. We see star after star genuflecting toward Social Justice narratives. They flood their Instagram feeds with odes to Pride Month and Black Lives Matter.

Stars serve up groveling apologies when they step out of line.

Macy Gray is just the latest example.

What if it’s mostly an act? Could the people behind the scenes be as sick of the woke mindset as the rest of us? What if they crave a way to rebel without having any skin in the game?

Voila! Shower “canceled” stars with awards season love. It helps explain why Morgan Wallen, who many want permanently canceled for uttering the “n-word” in private, earned the ACM’s Album of the Year a few months back, shocking many in the industry.

Chappelle, C.K. and Wallen are being feted by their peers, and it’s all done behind closed doors. No one can knock on a judge’s home and say, “why did you vote for Chappelle?” 

It’s the perfect act of rebellion for a cowardly industry. And it still sends a powerful message. Canceled artists may have the last laugh.

If so, that’s very good news for Ricky Gervais’ new Netflix special, “SuperNature.” Even Andrew Schulz may have to brush up on his Emmy speech next year.

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