Comedian Dave Chappelle has accused the Republican Party of "weaponizing" his transgender jokes, stating that they were doing a "weaponized version" of what he was doing. This comes after his Netflix special, "The Closer," was widely criticized as transphobic and led to a walkout by trans employees and allies at the company. Despite this controversy, Chapelle doubled down on trans jokes in his follow-up special "The Dreamer." Comedian has had a long professional relationship with Netflix, which has stood by him through the controversy. He also criticizes the idea that because people don't like his work, he cannot freely express it.