American stand-up comic Dave Chappelle's show at First Avenue in Minneapolis, Minnesota was cancelled on Wednesday, just hours before he was set to perform after the club faced backlash for booking the comedian.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, First Avenue's Instagram account posted a statement announcing that Chappelle's performance would now take place at Varsity Theater, where the star had already been scheduled to perform two sets on both Thursday and Friday.
The club's apology referenced apparent criticism of the venue for having booked Chappelle, who has been the subject of controversy surrounding jokes about the transgender community from his Netflix special 'The Closer'.
"The Dave Chappelle show tonight at First Avenue has been cancelled and is moving to the Varsity Theater," the message from First Avenue's team read.
It continued, "To staff, artists and our community, we hear you and we are sorry. We know we must hold ourselves to the highest standards, and we know we let you down. We are not just a black box with people in it, and we understand that First Ave is not just a room, but meaningful beyond our walls."
The statement added, "The First Avenue team and you have worked hard to make our venues the safest spaces in the country, and we will continue with that mission. We believe in diverse voices and the freedom of artistic expression, but in honoring that, we lost sight of the impact this would have."
Varsity Theater posted a statement to Twitter confirming that it will now host Chappelle on Wednesday as well.
"Attention Dave Chappelle Fans! The show scheduled for tonight at First Ave has now been moved to Varsity Theater," it read, in part, as per The Hollywood Reporter.
After announcing Chappelle's show earlier this week, First Avenue's social media was filled with comments in protest of the comedian, though TMZ reported that tickets quickly sold out.
Chappelle has defended his jokes by touting artistic expression, doubling down in a recent speech at his alma mater released by Netflix. During the speech, titled 'What's in a Name?', Chappelle announced that he decided against having a theater named after him at the school, instead, he opted to call it the Theater for Artistic Freedom and Expression.
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