Venue cancels Dave Chappelle show hours before he takes the stage in Minnesota

Just hours before comedian Dave Chappelle was scheduled to take the stage at First Avenue in Minneapolis, the Minnesota venue abruptly canceled his show.

First Avenue had received a wave of backlash after booking the controversial comedian, who has come under fire over remarks he made in a Netflix special about transgender people.

“We hear you and we are sorry,” the venue said in a social media post. “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 show was moved to Varsity Theater in Minneapolis, which already had four shows scheduled for Chappelle on July 21 and 22.

First Avenue was criticized for booking Chappelle, with a Change.org petition urging the venue to cancel the show.

“Chappelle’s actions uphold a violent heteronormative culture and directly violate First Avenue’s code of conduct,” the petition stated. “If staff and guests are held to this standard, performers should be too.”

According to the venue’s code of conduct, acting or speaking in a discriminatory matter or using transphobic language is not welcome at First Avenue.

Others took to Twitter after the venue first announced the show, bashing First Avenue when Chappelle’s booking was announced on July 18.

“As a First Ave member, I find this gross,” one Twitter user said. “As a booking it does not seem to align with the values that First Ave proposes they promote and support. I am sure there are plenty of other venues that could give this performer a stage.”

“Read these comments,” another commenter said. “You’re platforming someone who is deliberately choosing to target trans people at a specific historical moment in which those actual people’s actual lives are in actual danger (even more than usual). That context matters. Or at least it should.”

Dozens of protesters “shouted, chanted and waved signs in support of transgender rights” outside First Avenue before the show was canceled Wednesday, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune reported.

Chappelle has not commented publicly about Wednesday’s show being moved.

But some didn’t agree with First Avenue’s decision.

“Protect artistic expression but then you refuse to protect artistic expression,” one person commented on the venue’s announcement. “Make that make sense.”

“You got bullied by bullies to cancel the show,” another wrote. “Be better.”

Despite criticism against remarks he made in the Netflix special, Chappelle’s “The Closer” was nominated for an Emmy award for Outstanding Variety Special.

The backlash against Chappelle led to an employee walkout at Netflix and the comedian being tackled on stage during a festival in May, McClatchy News reported.

In one clip after the incident, Chappelle joked his attacker was “a trans man.”