Damon Wayans compared Dave Chappelle to a freedom fighter when asked to offer his thoughts on the fellow comic's new Netflix special, "The Closer." While some have taken offense to the routine's content and tried to pressuring Netflix into pulling the special from its platform, Wayans argued that the special has emancipated comedians from PC culture.

While at Los Angeles International Airport, Wayans asked about the controversy surrounding "The Closer" and he claimed the special has been encouraging for comedians who fear getting "canceled" if their jokes are offensive. The actor went as far as claiming comics have been "slaves" to PC culture and that Chappelle has "freed" them.

"I feel like Dave freed the slaves. Yeah, the comedians," Wayans told TMZ Monday at LAX. "We were slaves to PC culture and he just, you know -- as an artist, he's Van Gogh. He cut his ear off. He's trying to tell us it's okay."

Damon Wayans added that comedians should exercise their freedom of speech and should edit themselves out of fear. By comparing comics to Mercedes Benz vehicles, he part of becoming a great comedian is being able to make mistakes when developing a comedy routine.

"You can't edit yourself," Wayans said. "Comedians, we're like...Mercedes makes a great car. But, they gotta crash a lot of them before they perfect it."

Since the new Netflix special aired, LGBTQ+ groups, the National Black Justice Coalition, and even some of Netflix's employees have voiced their displeasure with Dave Chappelle's jokes, particularly in regards to transgender women. Wayans refused to address the content of the special and claimed the more important conversation should be centered around freedom of speech.

"I can't speak about the content of the show. But what I say is, there's a bigger conversation we need to have," he responded. "Someone needs to look us in the eye and go, 'You're no longer free in this country. You're not free to say what you want. You say what we want you to say. Otherwise, we will cancel you.' That's the discussion we should have."

To watch Damon Wayans speak further about Dave Chappelle's "The Closer," click the link below.

Source: TMZ