Jerrod Carmichael on Dave Chappelle’s Anti-Trans Comedy and Cancel Culture Comments: “It’s an Odd Hill to Die On”
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Jerrod Carmichael is offering his thoughts on comedians amid perceived “cancel culture,” in particular Dave Chappelle.
In a GQ magazine profile, Carmichael reflected on a text message he received from his 15-year-old niece after he came out to his family. He then publicly identified as gay during his HBO special Rothaniel released in April. The comedian noted that after speaking to his family about his orientation, older relatives had trouble just acknowledging “the one part that you need acknowledged,” while his niece sent him a text that read, “I see you. I hear you.”
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“I love this generation,” Carmichael said. “I actually fuck with them, and fuck all those comedians that are going so hard against them.”
Carmichael went on to discuss comedians and cancel culture at large, at one point naming fellow stand-up Chappelle specifically.
Chappelle has faced criticism for his repeated comments about the transgender community in various stand-up sets and specials. His most recent 2021 Netflix special, The Closer, included content that was called out for being harmful and offensive to the transgender community. It resulted in Netflix employees and allies holding company walkouts and protests outside the streamer’s Hollywood offices.
Chappelle would later address the controversy from the special in a show at L.A.’s Hollywood Bowl, in which he touched on the notion of cancel culture. “If this is what being canceled is like, I love it,” he said at the time.
“Look, I get it. Everybody’s got to create a boogeyman to sell tickets. But it’s not true,” Carmichael said of the threat of cancel culture. “Who’s getting canceled for what they’ve said? What does that mean, that people are mad on Twitter? Everybody’s fine. These grown men are fine.”
Carmichael went on to explain, “I think, a lot of times, people who offer nothing truthful or meaningful about themselves then complain about society at large and create this boogeyman. It’s like, listen, that’s the most urgent thing in your life? God bless you. I’m tired of hearing it.”
Of Chappelle, Carmichael raised the question, “Chappelle, do you know what comes up when you Google your name, bro? That’s the legacy? Your legacy is a bunch of opinions on trans shit? It’s an odd hill to die on.”
“And it’s like, hey, bro. Who the fuck are you? Who do you fuck? What do you like to do? Childish jokes aside, who the fuck are you?” he continued. “It’s just kind of played. But he’s choosing to die on the hill. So, alright, let him.”
Carmichael is one of the few high-profile comics to speak out against Chappelle. That list also includes Australian comedian Hannah Gadsby who criticized Netflix and its CEO Ted Sarandos after the streamer’s backing of Chappelle’s The Closer special.
During the Netflix Is a Joke festival’s Stand Out set, host Billy Eichner made references to both anti-LGBTQ+ legislation and transphobia within comedy: “Trans people are being demeaned. They’re trying to dehumanize trans people. They’re trying to erase trans people. And I’m not even talking about Florida. I’m talking about Dave Chappelle’s latest Netflix special!”
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