After receiving harsh criticism for his remarks about transgender and LGBTQ+ communities in his previous Netflix special The Closer, Dave Chappelle again took a jab at trans people and targeted the disabled community in his latest special The Dreamer.
Chappelle focused on the trans community in his opening. He recalled meeting Jim Carrey on the set of the 1999 movie Man on the Moon, in which Carrey portrayed the late comedian Andy Kaufman.
“I was very disappointed because I wanted to meet Jim Carrey and I had to pretend he was Andy Kaufman all afternoon. It was clearly Jim Carrey. I could look at him and clearly see it was Jim Carrey,” Chappelle said, describing how Carrey stayed in character while off-camera. “I say all that to say … that’s how trans people make me feel.”
He then moved on to the disabled community. “Tonight, I’m doing all handicapped jokes. They’re not as organized as the gays and I love punching down,” he said.
Chappelle later returned to his thoughts on the trans community.
“To be honest with you, I’ve been trying to repair my relationship with the transgender community cause I don’t want them to think that I don’t like them,” he said. “You know how I’ve been repairing it? I wrote a play. I did. Cause I know that gays love plays. It’s a very sad play, but it’s moving. It’s about a Black transgender woman whose pronoun is, sadly, n***a. It’s a tear-jerker. At the end of the play she dies of loneliness cause white liberals don’t know how to speak to her. It’s sad.”
Chappelle’s harsh words in his previous special The Closer prompted an employee walkout and a rally with more than 100 protesters at Netflix in 2021.
The streamer issued a statement ahead of the walkout and after Netflix CEO and chief content manager Ted Sarandos initially defended Chappelle’s remarks, saying he didn’t believe the GLAAD-slammed special crossed “the line on hate.” He later admitted that the internal reaction to the controversy was botched.
“We value our trans colleagues and allies, and understand the deep hurt that’s been caused,” a Netflix spokesperson said. “We respect the decision of any employee who chooses to walk out, and recognize we have much more work to do both within Netflix and in our content.”
