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- The hosts of "Fox & Friends" came to Dave Chappelle's defense on Tuesday.
- Chappelle has faced backlash over transgender jokes in his latest special.
- Framed around the culture wars, the morning show hosts depicted Chappelle as a victim.
The hosts of "Fox & Friends" on Fox News defended comedian Dave Chappelle Thursday morning in a segment framed around cancel culture.
"So, there's a couple of things," co-host Brian Kilmeade said. "Number one is, first they came for conservatives, now they're getting comedians."
Chappelle, whose comedy has frequently skewered conservatives and occasionally Fox News personalities, has been facing backlash from Netflix employees and members of the transgender community over his recent stand-up special. In his Netflix program "The Closer," Chappelle tripled down on jokes that critics have described as transphobic and "punching down."
Much of Chappelle's monologue in "The Closer" was dedicated to airing grievances about how transgender comedians and activists have spoken about him, as well as a broader argument that LGBTQ issues are taken more seriously by white people than racism is.
"I have never had a problem with transgender people," Chappelle says in the show. "If you listen to what I'm saying, clearly my problem has always been with white people."
While Kilmeade acknowledged that Chappelle is "hardly a champion for Fox," he said coming to the comedian's defense is necessary before cancel culture "buries everyone."
"And when you come after Dave Chappelle, you have really gone too far, and you've bitten off more than you can chew," Kilmeade said. "I mean, he's hardly a champion for Fox or anything else, but what he is is someone who speaks his mind, and can't exist without doing it."
Cancel culture - which Merriam-Webster defines as "to withdraw one's support for (someone, such as a celebrity, or something, such as a company) publicly and especially on social media" - has been one of the most popular themes on Fox News over the past two years, and is at the center of its online streaming strategy.
Fox News hosts and personalities have warned that anyone and everything from bible characters to Dr. Seuss are at risk of being erased by online activists, with the retooled notion of political correctness run amok fitting neatly into the network's longstanding framing of the news around culture wars.
While the "Fox & Friends" hosts defended Chappelle and his ability as a comedian to push the boundaries of public discourse, they did not get into specifics of what he said in the special, beyond airing a clip of Chappelle complaining about being "canceled."
In an earlier stand-up special, Chappelle singled out Fox News primetime host Laura Ingraham over her criticism of NBA superstar LeBron James for speaking out against racism.
"She told one of Ohio's greatest residents to 'shut up and dribble,'" Chappelle said. "I'll tell you something about LeBron James, he was on the cover of Sports Illustrated when he was 17 years old and exceeded every expectation they had of him. My friend is the best at something, and she's not the best at anything. She's just a regular white woman with a platform."