ComedianDave Chappellesays he was deeply hurt by the reaction to his 2021 standup special “The Closer,” which drew sharp criticism for his comments about transgender people, in his latest special that got a surprise release on Thursday, July 7.

The new Netflix special called “What’s in a Name?” is made up of a 39-minute speech the comedian delivered last month in the wake of the backlash at the student theater of his alma mater, the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, D.C.

Chappelle returned to the school for a planned renaming ceremony of the theater, after a visit in November ended with a contentious Q&A with students who took exception to his笑话针对”社区,尤其是trans women.

The space that was supposed to be named in his honor instead became the Theater for Artistic Freedom and Expression.

In “What’s in a Name?” Chappelle returns to the school to announce the new name and reminisce about his time at Duke Ellington. But before long, he wades back into controversy by reflecting on his previous visit to the school. He says those who were offended by the material in “The Closer” missed its “artistic nuance.”

He directs most of his frustration at the students who challenged him during the Q&A session.

“All the kids were screaming and yelling,” he says. “I remember, I said to the kids, I go, ‘Well, OK, well what do you guys think I did wrong?’ And a line formed. These kids said everything about gender, and this and that and the other, but they didn’t say anything about art.”

Chappelle says his “biggest gripe” is that his words were taken out of context as the controversy erupted.

“You cannot report on an artist’s work and remove artistic nuance from his words,” he says. “It would be like if you were reading a newspaper and they say, ‘Man Shot in the Face by a Six-Foot Rabbit Expected to Survive.’ You’d be like, ‘Oh my God,’ and they never tell you it’s a Bugs Bunny cartoon.”

There are few jokes in the special as Chappelle digs into his role as the victim, blaming the students for maligning what he describes as his “freedom of artistic expression.” He also suggests that his critics were manipulated by outside forces.

“When I heard those talking points coming out of these children’s faces, that really, sincerely hurt me,” Chappelle says. “Because I know those kids didn’t come up with those words. I’ve heard those words before. The more you say I can’t say something, the more urgent it is for me to say it. And it has nothing to do with what you’re saying I can’t say. It has everything to do with my right, my freedom, of artistic expression. That is valuable to me. That is not severed from me. It’s worth protecting for me, and it’s worth protecting for everyone else who endeavors in our noble, noble professions.”

In one passage, Chappelle reckons “The Closer” is a “masterpiece” and labels himself “a once-in-a-lifetime talent” before dismissing the validity of the arguments of his teenage critics.

“And these kids didn’t understand that they were instruments of oppression. And I didn’t get mad at them,” Chappelle says. “They’re kids. They’re freshmen. They’re not ready yet. They don’t know.”

Chappelle, who hosted the Bay Area debut of his new documentary “Untitled” at San Francisco’s Chase Center last fall,is scheduled to co-host part of the premiereBlue Note Jazz FestivalNapa Valley at the Charles Krug Winery in St. Helena on July 30-31.

“What’s in a Name?”(TV-MA) is now available to stream on Netflix.