Comedian Dave Chappelle is under attack for making jokes about transgenders in a surprise appearance at a John Mulaney show on Friday.
Attendees at Mulaney’s Friday comedy show in Columbus, Ohio, are expressing their dismay over jokes Chappelle made during his performance.
While there were no phones or recording devices allowed in the venue, attendees nonetheless took to social media to attack Chappelle.
“[O]kay so tell me why I just went to the John Mulaney show and Dave Chappelle was a surprise opener and made not only a transphobic joke but a homophobic one,” one Twitter user wrote.
“[D]ave chappelle doing ‘surprise’ openers for others and using all of his most transphobic material when the audience did not sign up to deal with that is fuckin gross. trans people are under attack and john mulaney has announced he doesn’t fuckin care and in fact thinks it’s funny,” another complained.
“[G]od dave chappelle at the columbus john mulaney show was so cringey – made me get second hand embarrassment at his re-used, bland, transphobic comedy that can literally be found in any online comment section from an edgy twelve year old,” a third lamented.
“My favorite part of tonight was when dave chappelle ambushed us at the john mulaney show, told a bunch of transphobic jokes, a massive stadium of people laughed, and then john mulaney hugged him at the end,” another tweeted.
“[T]he way the entire stadium stood and cheered for him made my heart sink. 2 girls behind me laughed harder at chappelle than they did at some of mulaney’s jokes and i just couldn’t fathom knowing what they would’ve thought about a trans person sitting right in front of them,” another said.
Some attendees directed their frustration toward Mulaney, who was seen giving Chappelle a hug after the comedian performed his set.
“I take back every defense I’ve made of John mulaney, very divorced of him to have Dave Chappelle open for him and tell a bunch of transphobic jokes. Elon Musk-esque. It’s serving moldy leftovers in the lunchbox in the office fridge,” one Twitter member wrote.
“John, so many of us think the whole world of you. So I’m really disappointed that Dave Chappelle was at tonight’s Columbus show, doling out transphobic jokes — and I’m kind of devastated that you then embraced him and thanked the audience for dealing with it,” another tweeted.
This is not the first time Chappelle has been attacked over his comedy.
Since the October 5 debut of his Netflix special, The Closer, Chappelle has been under fire by transgender activists who took offense to his jokes. Late last year, Netflix’s corporate office was even besieged by outraged transgender demonstrators.
Earlier this month, Chappelle was physically attacked by an armed assailant as he stood onstage during a performance at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles. The assailant later admitted that he attacked Chappelle because he was “triggered” by his jokes relating to the LGBTQIA2S+ community.
“I identify as bisexual — and I wanted him to know what he said was triggering,” Chappelle’s attacker, Isaiah Lee, said. “I wanted him to know that next time, he should consider first running his material by people it could affect.”
You can follow Alana Mastrangelo on Facebook and Twitter at @ARmastrangelo, and on Instagram.
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