Nat Puff, a Seattle comedian and musician with a large TikTok following and viral videos that predate that platform, said what disappointed her most about Chappelle’s statements was the apparent hypocrisy. “No one should come away from a joke more offended than they are entertained. “A joke should only be as offensive as necessary and, if it has to offend, it needs to be funnier than it is offensive,” she told CNN. While she’ll gladly poke fun at herself and anyone with “greater privilege,” Belle draws the line at making anyone with less privilege than her – as a Black trans woman – the butt of a joke, she said. In an opinion piece for the Guardian, Belle acknowledged Chappelle’s influence on her early career and how he molded her “understanding of comedy.” But their philosophies on what’s funny have diverged, she said. Dahlia Belle said Chappelle's most recent special, filled with jokes about trans people, "feels like a betrayal." Courtesy Mx. About one minute into her five-minute set, she turned a heartwarming story about her religious mother’s acceptance of her bisexuality – in the form of some very blunt sex advice – into a punchline about gay sex and AIDS. The conditions? The joke can’t be about their genitals – Chappelle broke that rule with a particularly crude joke that invoked plant-based meat alternatives – and it can’t come from a place of disrespect, she said.Ī recent standup set from Belle centered on being trans and having sex with people who are trans. “I absolutely believe that a straight comic can tell a joke about trans people that is funny for everyone,” McBride said. He said he was “on team TERF,” which describes people who identify as feminists, but argue that trans identities are not valid. It’s not that jokes about trans people can’t be funny – it’s just that Chappelle’s weren’t, McBride said.Īt several points, he referred to trans people as “transgenders,” a term GLAAD advises should not be used in its noun form – only as an adjective. “Given Chappelle’s undeniable cultural impact, his insistence on my erasure is deeply painful and feels like a betrayal,” Belle said in an email to CNN.Ĭhappelle’s trans jokes weren’t funny, comics say But his jokes about trans people only reflect his own intolerance, said Mx. (CNN has reached out to a representative for Chappelle and is waiting to hear back.)Ĭhappelle has been lauded throughout his career for forcing difficult topics on unsuspecting audiences and highlighting the absurdity and omnipotence of anti-Black racism. But three of the comedians said that, by targeting trans people – trans women, mostly – and adopting the language of opponents of trans rights, his comedy has mutated into something meaner, more dated and less impactful. “When you’re just taking this mean position against a minority, no matter who the minority is or who you are, it just comes off as wrong.”ĬNN spoke with four trans comedians about what they think Chappelle got wrong in “The Closer.” Some said they had considered Chappelle a comedy hero. “I know says he wasn’t punching down – he’s absolutely punching down,” McBride told CNN. Jaye McBride's a regular at the Comedy Cellar, where she shares self-deprecating stories about being trans. (McBride didn’t watch the special herself she said she “didn’t want to give Netflix the views.”) She felt Chappelle was “scapegoating trans people” for issues that their community – which represents about 0.6% of the US adult population, per Gallup – had no power to control. So when she read what Dave Chappelle, a comedian she once admired for his searing social commentary, said about trans women – about their genitalia, their “knuckles and Adam’s apples,” their insistence on being recognized and respected – in his latest Netflix special, she felt disappointed and defeated. The vaccine joke is one of several in McBride’s set that revolve around being transgender – like many successful standups, she mines her own life for material, though she thinks her jokes are relatable for cisgender audiences, too. The audience sat with the joke for a second before erupting into laughter and applause. “It’s weird, because I wasn’t trans before the vaccine,” she deadpanned with a shrug. She made a crack about how 6 feet of distance and Zoom couldn’t conceal her being trans. “Y’all have figured that out by now? Bunch of Brooklyn detectives.” “You guys know I’m trans, right?” she asked the audience. On a summer night in New York’s Greenwich Village, standup Jaye McBride’s energy was squirrelly and unpredictable as she stood a few feet from a full crowd at the Comedy Cellar.
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