Dave Chappelle, infamous for his edgy comedy, has ignited controversy once again by breaking his promise to avoid making jokes about the transgender community in his latest Netflix special, The Dreamer.
The comedian, known for pushing boundaries, opened his seventh Netflix special with a nostalgic look at his career but shifted gears when he recounted an encounter with Jim Carrey while on the set of Man on the Moon.
“I wanted to meet Jim Carrey [who was method acting], but I had to pretend this n***a was Andy Kaufman. All afternoon,” Chappelle recalled during the show, which premiered on Sunday. I could look at him and I could see that he was Jim Carrey.”
However, he took an unexpected turn, concluding, “Anyway, I say all that to say: That’s how trans people make me feel.”
Despite promising not to speak about trans people due to previous backlash for offending the LGBTQIA+ community and their allies, Chappelle addressed the issue during his show.
Check out the trailer for Chappelle’s latest Netflix special, The Dreamer:
“If you guys came here to this show tonight thinking that I’m going to make fun of those people again, you’ve come to the wrong show,” he warned his audience.
“I’m not f**king with those people anymore. It wasn’t worth the trouble. I ain’t saying s**t about them.”
“Maybe three or four times tonight, but that’s it,” he continued. “I’m tired of talking about them.”
Chappelle attributed his decision to cease making jokes about the transgender community to the perception that he needed them to be funny. He dismissed this notion, saying, “Well, that’s ridiculous. I don’t need you. I got a whole new angle coming.”
“You guys will never see this s**t coming. I ain’t doing trans jokes no more.”
However, he announced his intention to target the handicapped community for humor, remarking that “they’re not as organized as the gays.”
“And I love punching down,” he added.
Chappelle later circled back to the transgender community, revealing that he had written a play aimed at mending his relationship with them.
Credit: Jason Mendez / Getty
“I wrote a play. I did. ‘Cause I know that gays love plays,” he explained, describing it as a “sad” and “moving” play about a black transgender woman whose pronoun is controversial, leading to her death from loneliness.
Chappelle also made a controversial joke about identifying as a woman in prison and recounted an onstage attack in 2022, during which he referenced the LGBTQIA+ community, alluding to his assailant being bisexual.
Criticism of Chappelle’s latest special has poured in from allies of the LGBTQIA+ community, with social media users branding him a “pathetic a**hole” and his performance “another s****y stand-up special.”
One social media user wrote: “Looks like someone can only stay relevant and make money by humiliating trans people. His most humiliating yet.”
Another penned: “If jokes presenting & promoting common myths, misunderstandings & outright propaganda against vulnerable groups didn’t help to promote & normalise the harm such groups already endure, it wouldn’t be so bad.
“A good dark joke plays in its own absurdity, and you laugh as much about how ridiculous the world was as you do about the subject. I suppose Chappelle prefers being an edgelord over being imaginative in his humour. Ah well, his choice.”
A third remarked: “Jokes about trans people are fine…. IF they are actually funny and don’t misrepresent an entire marginalized group as deceptive or predatory for cheap laughs.
“This narrative is part of why the so-called ‘trans panic’ defence exists and why so many men who are attracted to trans women feel justified in responding to their conflicted feelings of attraction by inflicting violence on the object of that attraction.”
This isn’t the first time Chappelle has faced backlash for his comedy. His 2021 Netflix special, The Closer, led to protests and Netflix employee walkouts over offensive remarks. He also faced accusations of normalizing anti-Semitism during his November 2022 Saturday Night Live hosting gig.