Dave Chappelle is facing more backlash from the LGBTQ community.
During his newly released standup special The Closer, the polarizing comedian expressed his support for J.K. Rowling, who was widely criticized over her anti-trans comments back in 2019. The Harry Potter author argued trans women were a threat to those who were assigned female at birth, and mistakenly conflated sex with gender. Rowling was subsequently deemed a “trans-exclusionary radical feminist,” a.k.a. a “TERF,” a term used to described a feminist who does not believe trans women are real women.
“They canceled J.K. Rowling. My God,” Chappelle said during the hour-long Netflix special, per The Daily Beast. “Effectually she said gender was a fact, the trans community got mad as (expletive), they started calling her a TERF… I’m Team TERF. I agree. I agree, man. Gender is a fact.”
The 48-year-old also claimed he doesn’t have a problem with the trans community, nor does he think “trans women aren’t women”; however, he suggested the former group would never be real women because of human anatomy.
“I am just saying that those pussies that they got, you know what I mean?” he said. “I’m not saying it’s not pussy, but it’s Beyond Pussy or Impossible Pussy. It tastes like pussy, but that’s not quite what it is, is it? That’s not blood. That’s beet juice.”
His comments, of course, were met with widespread criticism, similar to what he experienced in 2019 following the release of his Sticks & Stones special for Netflix. During the comedy standup, Chappelle called the trans community “confusing” and described their lives as a “hilarious predicament.” Chappelle acknowledged the backlash in The Closer, and vowed to stop making LGBTQ jokes “until we are both sure that we are laughing together.”
“I’m telling you, it’s done. I’m done talking about it,” he said. “All I ask of your community, with all humility: Will you please stop punching down on my people.”
The “people” Chappelle was seemingly referring to were the number of men who have been canceled over transphobic and homophobic comments, including fellow comedian Kevin Hart and rapper DaBaby. The former lost a number of gigs and brand partnerships earlier this year, after he spewed bigoted comments at Rolling Loud Miami.
“Now, you know I go hard in the paint, but even I saw that shit and was like, ‘Goddamn, DaBaby,’” Chappelle said. “He pushed the button, didn’t he? He pushed the button, punched the [LGBTQ] community right in the AIDS. Can’t do that, can’t do that. But I do believe—and I’ll make this point later—that the kid made a very egregious mistake. I will acknowledge that. But, you know, a lot of the [LGBTQ] community doesn’t know DaBaby’s history. He’s a wild guy.”
You can read reactions to Chappelle’s TERF comments below.
