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Comedian Dave Chappelle's latest comedy special for Netflix was attacked by media critics for continuing to make jokes about the transgender movement, following a years-long pattern of the comedian frustrating the left.
In “The Dreamer,” released Dec. 31, the cheeky comedian tells a story about meeting Jim Carrey on the set of his 1999 film “The Man on the Moon.” Carrey followed Andy Kaufman in portraying him took a “methodical” approach by staying in character at all times, and Chappelle was instructed by the crew to address Carrey as “Andy” when he met.
“I wanted to meet Jim Carrey and I had to pretend all afternoon that he was…Andy Kaufman. And he was definitely Jim Carrey,” he noted. “I could look at him and I could see he was Jim Carrey. Anyway, I say all this to say that I feel the same way about trans people.”
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The comedian made several other jokes about gender identity and “preferred pronouns” in the routine that angered critics.
Rolling Stone, Variety, BuzzFeed and others accused the comedian of being “obsessed” with making fun of the trans community.
DAVE CHAPPELLE addresses the backlash, saying people want to take “nuance” away from language in American culture
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Chappelle's routine in 2021 sparked a protest from Netflix employees with his comments in support of JK Rowling. (Photo by Jeremy Saffer)
“Dave Chappelle's 'The Dreamer' proves he's obsessed with transsexuals,” raged Rolling Stone's Marlow Stern.
“It's unfortunate that Chappelle's The Dreamer, like some of his previous Netflix specials, obsessively fixates on the trans community, as it's not an area in which he particularly excels, and resorts to childish premises and punchlines . There are, of course, ways to artfully tell a trans joke — take Michelle Wolf's recent Netflix special “It's Great to Be Here” — but Chappelle is apparently unable to deliver most of his bits about mocking genitals or to bring out pronouns. This is not only tired but also uninspired,” he wrote.
The U.K.-based Telegraph gave the special just one star, calling Chappelle a “breaking record” for continuing the trans jokes.
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“Perhaps it’s time for Dave Chappelle to try out new material,” suggested Variety editor William Earl, lamenting in his article the comedian’s “obsession with making fun of trans people.”
Chappelle has previously drawn backlash from LGBTQ activists and sparked a protest from Netflix employees for his comments in support of JK Rowling in his 2021 Netflix special “The Closer.”
DAVE CHAPPELLE addresses the backlash, saying people want to take “nuance” away from language in American culture
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Media critics criticized comedian Dave Chappelle for continuing to make jokes about transgender people. (Photo by Mike Coppola)
The Daily Beast's Sean L. McCarthy admitted that he was frustrated by the comic's doubling, despite previous controversies.
“Dave Chappelle’s new Netflix special proves he learned nothing,” the journalist wrote.
“It's so frustrating to watch comedians with Chappelle's stature [Ricky] Gervais dedicate so much time and energy to victimizing the LGBTQ+ community when they could be doing anything else on stage. And then they have the nerve to question us, the audience, for not laughing with them,” he criticized.
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“Bigots are already calling Chappelle 'brave' for repeating the same old trans myths,” BuzzFeed also scoffed.
“Fox Across America” host Jimmy Failla said Chappelle's critics seemed to misunderstand that stand-up comedy works best when it's making fun of everyone.
“When you make fun of a community on a comedy show, that’s the highest form of inclusion there is. “I’m not making fun of these people,” that’s not equality, that’s infantilizing them. That means treating them like something less. And the whole point of comedy is that the people who patronize it, okay, they like and appreciate the power of being able to laugh at ourselves and laugh at each other and our differences,” Failla told Fox News Digital.
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Comedian Tim Young said liberals weren't actually offended by Chappelle's comedy, but were pretending to be offended to get “clicks” and further cancel the culture. (Photo by Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)
Failla, whose comedy special “They're Just Jokes” premieres Wednesday on Fox Nation, claimed Chappelle is in the left's sights because he remains one of the few top comedians who has withstood attempts to depose him .
“The reason Chappelle gets as much heat as he does is because in modern times we have created a kind of incentive for outrage. Getting mad at a comedian usually means you get rewarded like, 'Hey, I'm mad, give me something.' .' “And the truth is that Chappelle is the greatest ally that small-time comedians have because he is the only well-known comedian who does not shy away from societal pressure,” he noted.
“Jokes only work if the audience finds a kernel of truth in what we say. So when you watch this special, it's not the attacks or the blowback that's notable. Because these days people attack everything. It's the reason he gets a lot of laughter.” “That's the punch line, because people see a lot of truth in what he says,” Failla said.
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Conservative comedian Tim Young agreed that the left wasn't actually offended but was using their outrage to capitalize on Chappelle's popularity.
“Liberals aren't actually offended by Dave Chappelle's comedy – they're just pretending to be offended, both for the clicks on the internet and to see what kind of power they can wield over free speech and someone exponentially “I'm more famous than they'll ever be,” Young told Fox News Digital.
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If liberals were actually offended, they could simply ignore his comedy instead of trying to cancel him, as some did with his 2021 Netflix special, Young suggested.
“If someone is so offended by someone else's words, they might just not watch or listen and walk away – but in this case, leftists choose to try to control someone else's words through action – what if it rewards it “To silence someone like Chappelle would be terrible for both our culture and America as a whole,” he said. “Free speech protects speech that we don’t like – and that’s a good thing.”
Excerpts from the latest special went viral on social media after some conservative accounts shared the Carrey story.
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While the media grumbled about the jokes, some conservatives praised the comedian for not backing down on the controversial topic.
“Dave Chappelle's new Netflix special is here and he tells the truth about trans people,” praised “Billboard Chris” while sharing the clip, which racked up over 10 million views in 24 hours.
“Exactly. “Dave Chappelle got it,” applauded former NCAA swimmer Riley Gaines.
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Amid the Netflix scandal, the comedy icon continued to perform in sold-out shows and win awards.
For “Closer,” he won Best Comedy Album at the 2023 Grammy Awards, sparking an immediate backlash from the entertainment media, which portrayed Chappelle's performance as a victory for “transphobic” people.
Fox News' Jeffrey Clark contributed to this report.