Known for being one of the world’s premier wine regions with more than 400 wineries and famous for its prized Cabernet Sauvignon, Napa Valley attracts visitors from all over the world every year. However, for comedian Dave Chappelle, this American Viticultural Area in Northern California is not a good place for those who enjoy environments with diversity; at least according to the comedian. He expressed his thoughts about Napa Valley during the Blue Note Jazz Festival last Sunday.
As The Drinks Business reported, Chappelle was performing as MC on the stage at the BottleRock festival. However, the night festival was cut short when the festival’s audio speakers were turned off due to a 10 p.m. noise curfew in St. Helen. After that, the musician Robert Glasper, who was supposed to return to the stage, had his performance canceled.
This situation irritated Chappelle. Then, he started to scream at crew members, demanding to turn the sound back on. He also compared the situation to Martin Luther King Jr., asking what would happen if King wanted to give his “I Have a Dream Speech,” and the crew wouldn’t turn his microphone on. Guests at the festival recalled Chappelle threatening to boycott Napa Valley wine and never return. We’ll have to see whether he will follow through on this threat.
Mentioning the lack of diversity in Napa Valley, he said that he would never drink wine from this American viticultural area, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.
“I’ll never drink a cup of wine from this dusty ass field,” he said. “I’ll drink Italian wines and French wines and South African wines. You cannot shut down Robert Glasper, ever. Let that be known.”
Chappelle also said that the Blue Note Jazz Festival “the Blackest weekend [Napa] has ever seen.”
After the small incident, some other musicians joined Chappelle for a low-key jam, in order to entertain and calm him down. “Guess what everybody? We just made history,” he said.
Dave Chappelle has a history of speaking out about social issues. He has been a voice about race issues in the country many times.
Chappelle is one of the most successful comedians in the US comedy scene, but recently he has faced criticism due to jokes he’s made in his stand-up shows. This year, Dave Chappelle had shows canceled over transgender jokes controversy.
