In his brand-new Netflix special, “The Dreamer,” which debuted on New Year’s Eve, Dave Chappelle kept the trans community in mind. In his controversial special, the contentious comedian also targeted the disabled community.
“I’m making all kinds of jokes about people with disabilities now,” he said at one point during his program. “They’re not as organized as the gays, and I love punching down.”
“To be completely honest with you, I’ve been working to mend my relationship with the transgender community because I don’t want them to think that I dislike them,” he said at another point in the special. “You know how I’ve been fixing it, right? A play that I wrote. I did. Because I am aware of gay people’s passion for plays.” “It’s a pretty depressing play, but nonetheless moving. It’s about a trans Black person whose word is regrettably ‘n***a.’ It makes you cry more. She passes away from grief at the play’s conclusion because white liberals are unable to communicate with her. It’s depressing.”
Chappelle previously received criticism for his comments in his 2021 Netflix special “The Closer” about LGBTQIA+ and trans people.
Eventually, he promised to meet with the transgender community, but in a video that was posted to his Instagram account, the comedian admitted to not “bending to anyone’s demands” to an audience in Nashville.
During a visit to the Capitol last month, Chappelle met with Reps. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) and Anna Paulina Luna, two outspoken anti-LGBTQIA+ politicians, to pose for pictures.
Boebert captioned the picture on X (previously Twitter), which sparked backlash among social media users, “Just three people who understand that there are only two genders.”
According to Newsweek, Chappelle later asserted at a show that Boebert “tricked him” into taking the picture.