A benefit concert taking place over the course of three nights to support those in Montana affected by the June flooding sold out quickly on Tuesday. Dave Chappelle, despite his controversial status, is scheduled to perform at one of the shows next month. The flooding ultimately led to parts of Yellowstone National Park being closed.
Singer John Mayer, who has a home in Montana, is the mastermind of the Rise for the River concert event and shared that the money raised will go to the Southwest Montana Flood Relief Fund that aims to help Park and Madison counties. Donations will be for emergency shelter, drinking water, food and clothing for those impacted by the flooding.
All three concerts—which are happening August 8, August 14 and August 21—are completely sold out. Since October 2021, Chappelle has been a polarizing figure with his Netflix comedy special The Closer. Some of the jokes in that special have been called out for promoting transphobia—and he continues to experience controversy.
Just last week, a venue in Minneapolis canceled a Chappelle show mere hours before he was set to perform. It wound up being relocated to another Minneapolis venue. Chappelle later made fun of “cancel culture” and the infamous Hollywood Bowl attack where he served as a surprise opener in New York City on Saturday for a performance by Kevin Hart and Chris Rock.
He was also gifted an actual goat during the show. As Hart said on Instagram last about the show: “Last night was by far the best moment of my career….I can’t even explain it…I can’t find the words…Just know that last night was the true definition of a “EPIC NIGHT” …..I love my brothers more than words can explain. What we did to the Garden will never be done again….We made history last night!!!!!!!!
It looks like all of the backlash hasn’t slowed Chappelle down one bit.