Dave Chappelle might want to experiment with some fresh content now.
“The Dreamer,” the comedian’s most recent Netflix special, debuted on December 31 and primarily discusses his early years in the entertainment industry and how he achieved success. However, he repeatedly brings up his favorite topic in recent years—Transgender people—in the first 12 minutes of the special.
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In the opening scene of the special, Chappelle shares a story of visiting Jim Carrey while filming “Man on the Moon,” in which the comedian Andy Kaufman was reportedly played methodically. Dave recalls being “very disappointed” that he spoke to Carrey all day while posing as Kaufman and concluded by saying, “That’s how trans people make me feel.”
He continued by saying, “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 then addressed the controversy surrounding his anti-trans material. “I no longer mess with those people. The trouble wasn’t worth it. I’m not going to say anything bad about them. That’s all, maybe three or four times now. I’m sick of bringing them up. And you’re curious as to why I’m sick of bringing them up? Because they acted as though I needed them to be funny. Well, that’s absurd. You are not necessary to me. I’m about to take a completely new angle. You guys won’t be able to see this coming. I won’t be making trans jokes anymore.”
He continued by saying that he would start making jokes about “handicapped” people because “they’re not as organized as the lesbians.” “I also enjoy punching down.”
Chappelle brought up the topic again a short while later, saying, “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 I dislike them.” “Do you know how I’ve been fixing it? With a play that I wrote. I did. Because I know gay people love plays. Although the play is really sad, it is moving. It’s about a trans Black person whose pronoun is regrettably ‘n***a.’ It’s a tear-jerker, really. She dies of loneliness at the end of the play because white liberals don’t know how to approach her. It is depressing.”
“God forbid I ever go to jail,” he muttered afterward. “I hope it’s in California, though, if I do. I’ll say, ‘I want the court to hear I identify as a woman before you sentence me,’ as soon as the judge sentences me. I want to go to a women’s prison. You know what I’m going to be doing as soon as I enter. ‘Give me your fruit cocktail, woman, before I knock your fucking teeth out. I’m a lady, just like you, bitch. Come on over here and suck this lady dick I’ve got. Don’t demand an explanation from me. I am a woman.'”
Later in the special, Chappelle talked about how he was attacked backstage at the Hollywood Bowl in 2022 by a man brandishing an imitation firearm that had the capacity to fire razor blades. Chappelle recalled telling the audience, “It was a transgender man,” in an effort to ease tension following the incident. However, he claimed that given the audience’s response of “Boo,” it didn’t go over well. “We like transgender people, it’s L.A.”
Additionally, Chappelle claimed that the assailant “had a knife that identified as a gun” and that “I triggered them because I had made LGBTQ jokes and it turns out that this fellow was a ‘B.'” He even made a joke about how the perpetrator “could have been raped” given that he was gay.
“The Dreamer,” Chappelle’s sixth stand-up special for Netflix, was filmed at the Lincoln Theatre in his hometown of Washington, D.C.
Chappelle has come under fire in recent years for making numerous remarks about the transgender community, such as in “The Closer,” a 2021 Netflix special. Netflix employee walk-outs and protests in support of the LGBTQ+ community were sparked by the contentious material. In a letter distributed to Netflix employees, Netflix’s Ted Sarandos initially defended the comedian and his right to artistic freedom. However, he later claimed that in his response to the controversy, “screwed up.”
During the credits of “The Dreamer,” a portrait of Sarandos and Chappelle smiling at one another is displayed.
