During a recent episode of his new podcast, legendary comedian Dave Chappelle slammed transgender activists over a protest they staged at one of his events last year.
Chappelle made the remarks on his “The Midnight Miracle” podcast with co-hosts Talib Kweli and Yasiin Bey. Chappelle had been slated to perform at “First Avenue,” one of the most well known comedy clubs in Minneapolis, when, hours before he was slated to perform, they canceled his show.
“I guess apparently they had made a pledge to the public at large that they would make their club a safe space for all people, and that they would ban anything they deemed transphobic,” Chappelle said. “This is a wild stance for an artistic venue to take, especially one that’s historically a punk rock venue.”
Chappelle then spoke to what happened at the Varsity Theater in Minneapolis, where he rotated to after his previous venue canceled his show.
“These were grown people of various genders and gender identities,” Chappelle said. “They threw eggs. They threw eggs at the [fans] who were lined up to see the show.”
“One lady was so mad with the protesters, she picked up a police barricade,” Chappelle continued. “You ever seen one? They look like a bike rack. This b**** picked that barricade up by herself and threw it at the crowd. I gotta tell you, it’s an amazing feat of strength for a woman.”
Chappelle added that those who came into the theater were very happy to see him, partially “because suddenly going to see a comedy show was this huge act of defiance.”
“I don’t think anyone had any malicious intent. In fact, one of the things that these people, the trans and their surrogates, always say is that my jokes are somehow gonna be the root cause of some impending violence that they feel like is inevitable for my jokes,” he continued. “But I gotta tell you, as abrasive as they were, the way they were protesting, throwing eggs at people, throwing barricades, cussing and screaming, [none of my fans] beat ‘em up. In fact, the people in the crowd would just say, ‘We love you. Like what are you talking about?’”
Chappelle added that he spoke to several transgender protesters, believing that the majority were “just sticking to the playbook: we’re here to stir s*** up.”
“I feel like they wanted me to say something inflammatory … in a weird way, I think some of them had the intention of inciting violence against themselves for publicity,” Chappelle said. “Like they were doing things that a regular n*****, I’m telling you, would knock one of these people out.”
Chappelle had made jokes at the expense of the transgender community, and the LGBT community at large, for decades prior to the incident. However, what had stirred up the ire of transgender activists had been his 2021 Netflix special, “The Closer,” after he made several comments including referring to himself as a member of “team TERF,” or “trans-exclusionary radical feminist.”
“Gender is a fact,” Chappelle said during the special, which was nominated for two Emmy Awards. “Every human being in this room, every human being on earth, had to pass through the legs of a woman to be on earth. That is a fact.”
Netflix later sided with Chapelle, refusing to succumb to pressure to remove the special from their platform. It remains available for viewing.
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