Jan 2
Dave Chappelle Attacks Trans People Again in New Netflix Special
Kilian Melloy READ TIME: 5 MIN.
Comedian Dave Chappelle isn't making trans people the butt of his jokes anymore. Or is he?
To judge from the opening minutes of his new Netflix special, Chappelle is right back to mining the same sort of material, taking aim at a community that's already been through the wringer with years of punitive legislative assaults on their personal and medical rights.
Chappelle says in "The Dreamer" that he's "tired of talking about" trans people, then attacks them all over again before making a cringey joke about "handicapped" people, Variety reported.
"Chappelle opens the special by telling a story about visiting Jim Carrey while he was shooting the 1999 film 'Man on the Moon,' where the actor famously went method on set while portraying comedian Andy Kaufman," the entertainment new outlet details.
"Dave recalls being 'very disappointed' that he spent the day speaking to Carrey pretending to be Kaufman, ending by saying, 'That's how trans people make me feel,'" Variety said.
Chappelle ignited a firestorm of controversy with his 2021 Netflix special "The Closer," in which he sparked backlash by going after trans people. Both the comedian and the streaming service came in for withering criticism for the special's anti-trans jokes.
But neither Chappelle nor Netflix exhibited much in the way of contrition in the new special, with Chappelle leaning hard into the embers of the years-old controversy.
"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," Variety quoted the comedian as saying.
"I'm not fucking with those people anymore," Chappelle continues. "It wasn't worth the trouble. I ain't saying shit about them. Maybe three or four times tonight, but that's it," he adds, building toward a fresh volley.
"I'm tired of talking about them," Chappelle goes on to say. "And you want to know why I'm tired of talking about them? Because these people acted like I needed them to be funny. Well, that's ridiculous. I don't need you. I got a whole new angle coming. You guys will never see this shit coming. I ain't doing trans jokes no more."
Instead, Chappelle tells his audience, he will be "joking about 'handicapped' people instead," Variety detailed, "because 'they're not as organized as the gays.'"
"I love punching down!" the comedian summarizes.
Kilian Melloy serves as EDGE Media Network's Associate Arts Editor and Staff Contributor. His professional memberships include the National Lesbian & Gay Journalists Association, the Boston Online Film Critics Association, The Gay and Lesbian Entertainment Critics Association, and the Boston Theater Critics Association's Elliot Norton Awards Committee.
