Perhaps it's time for Dave Chappelle to try some new material.
The comedian's latest special, “The Dreamer,” will be released on Netflix on December 31st and focuses primarily on his early days in entertainment and how he achieved success. But he focused the first 12 minutes of his set on revisiting his favorite target in recent years: transgender people.
Chappelle begins the special by telling a story about visiting Jim Carrey during the filming of the 1999 film “Man on the Moon.” Jim Carrey famously worked hard on set while playing the role of comedian Andy Kaufman. Dave recalled being “very disappointed” in pretending to be Kaufman and talking to Carrie all day, finishing by saying, “Transgender people make me feel that way.”
He also addressed the controversy surrounding his anti-transgender work, saying, “If you came on this show tonight and thought I was going to make fun of those people again, you came to the wrong show.'' I don't have anything to do with those guys anymore. It wasn't worth the trouble. I'm not talking about them. Maybe three or four times tonight, but that's it. They. And you want to know why I'm tired of talking about them? Because these people acted like I needed to make them funny. Well, that's funny. We don't need you. We've got a whole new angle. You guys will never see this coming. We're not going to do any more transgender jokes.”
He then said he was going to move on to jokes about “disabled people” instead. “Because they're not as organized as homosexuals.” And I love punchdowns. ”
A few minutes later, Chappelle brought up the topic again, saying, “Honestly, I've been trying to repair my relationship with the transgender community because I don't want them to think I don't like them. ” he said. Do you know how I repaired it? I wrote a play. Hooray. Because gay people know that he loves acting. It's a very sad play, but very moving. This is a story about a black transgender woman whose pronouns are, sadly, “n——.” It's tear-jerking. At the end of her play, she dies of loneliness because the white liberals don't know how to talk to her. sad. “
He then quipped: But if I do, I hope it's in California. As soon as the judge sentences me, I'll think, “I want the court to know that I'm a woman before sentencing.'' Please send me to a women's prison. ” As soon as you get in there, you’ll know what I’m doing. “Give me a fruit cocktail before I break your mother's teeth. I'm a girl like you too, b—-. Come here and suck this girl, okay. Explain yourself to me. Please don't let me. I'm a girl.'”
Later in the special, Chappelle spoke about the time he was attacked onstage at the Hollywood Bowl in 2022 by an assailant with a replica gun that could fire a knife blade. Chappelle recalled trying to defuse the tension after the incident with a joke, telling the audience, “That was a transgender person!” But given the audience's “boo” reaction, he said that didn't work. This is LA, we love trans people. ”
Chappelle also said the attackers “had a knife that could be considered a gun” and that “I provoked them because they were LBGTQ.” [sic] I told a joke and it turned out that this guy was a “B”. ” He also joked that since he knew his assailant was bisexual, he “could have been raped.”
Filmed at the Lincoln Theater in Chappelle's hometown of Washington, D.C., “The Dreamer” is the comedian's seventh Netflix-exclusive stand-up special.
Chappelle has come under fire in recent years for his frequent comments about the transgender community, including in his 2021 Netflix special “The Closer.” This controversial content sparked a Netflix employee walkout and protests in solidarity with his LGBTQ+ community. Netflix's Ted Sarandos initially defended comedians and their right to artistic freedom in a memo distributed to Netflix employees, but later said his own response to the controversy was “a mess.” Stated.
A photo of Sarandos and Chappelle smiling together appears during the credits for “The Dreamer.”
