Dave Chappelle is expanding his comedy empire after the woke cancel campaigns have failed, selling more tickets in the past year than any other comedian, and now plans to open his own comedy clubs.
The comedian raked in more money in ticket sales than any comedy act in the last touring year, and grossed $62 million for 31 ticketed shows in 2023, not including several co-headlining shows with Chris Rock and events with receipts not reported to Pollstar, according to a report by Wall Street Journal.
“Here we are to laugh at the stuff we’re not supposed to laugh at anymore,” Elizabeth Harborth, one of roughly 17,000 people who attended one of Chappelle’s July comedy shows in San Antonio, told the outlet.
The 45-year-old woman had attended the show with her two daughters, both Chappelle fans in their 20s.
While Chappelle has received backlash online for his jokes that the woke cancel culture mob has deemed too offensive to utter aloud, the comedian nonetheless has “legions of fans” at his shows, so he’s “doubling down and cashing in,” WSJ noted.
Chappelle had fallen under attack by the woke mob for his 2021 Netflix special, The Closer, which also resulted in a walkout of Netflix employees demanding that the streaming platform remove it.
That attempt, however, failed, and Chappelle now has a new Netflix special, The Dreamer, set to be released on Sunday.
Moreover, while being protested by Netflix employees, Chappelle was on the road doing comedy shows, finding himself in bigger venues than the theaters he had been in before.
Now, Chappelle is about to make another career move, as he plans to open a comedy club near his home in Yellow Springs, Ohio. He is also reportedly looking to open another club in Washington, D.C.
Additionally, the comedian is also has a deal with Netflix to produce stand-up specials for other comics, which will be called, Chappelle’s Home Team.
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