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Michelle Buteau mocks Dave Chappelle's obsession with anti-trans jokes
"He's the GOAT if that means 'Going Off About Trans' people," Michelle Buteau joked.
Michelle Buteau is the latest comedian to slam Dave Chappelle for his seeming obsession with making jokes about trans people.
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In the new Netflix special Michelle Buteau: A Buteau-ful Mind at Radio City Music Hall, the actress and stand-up comedian told a story about her "Black lesbian friend" using a massage gun as a sex toy — noting how "for the most part, we laughed. Some of y'all were judging. Some of y'all were curious."
"But all I'm saying is… it can be done," Buteau added. "It can be done. We can tell jokes and stories and not disparage a whole community," she said. "We can do that. We can make it funny. We just have to work at it, right?"
"So, if you guys ever run into Dave Chappelle, can you let him know that sh*t?" she asked. "I don't think he knows that sh*t. I don't think we'll ever run into Dave though, because he is the GOAT. And he's the GOAT if that means 'Going Off About Trans' people.'"
Buteau later remarked on Chappelle's jokes not being funny, but actually being dangerous. "Make it funny. That's all," she argued. "I can't believe somebody would make millions and millions of dollars from making people feel unsafe. That is so wild to me."
Chappelle's interest in making anti-trans jokes is, unfortunately, not a new topic. His four last comedy specials on Netflix — 2019's Sticks & Stones, 2021's The Closer, 2022's What's In a Name?, and 2023's The Dreamer — have all included jokes that were considered offensive to trans people by various news outlets, fellow comedians, and LGBTQ+ organizations.
During 2019's Sticks & Stones, for instance, Chappelle claimed that trans people are "confusing" and that the concept of being "born in the wrong body" is a "f*cking hilarious predicament." He also compared being trans to pretending to be Asian.
Joel Kim Booster (who also had a comedy special on Netflix titled Psychosexual) reacted to those jokes in 2019, telling WNYC's All of It that it was "kind of sad" to see what Chappelle's work had become, arguing that Chappelle "no longer has that many interesting things to say."
Chappelle made more trans jokes in his 2021 special The Closer, where he declared that he was "Team TERF" and compared trans women's genitals to plant-based burger brands like Beyond Meat and Impossible Foods.
In 2022, gay comedian Jerrod Carmichael rejected the idea that Chappelle was being "canceled" for his anti-trans jokes. "Look, I get it. Everybody's got to create a boogeyman to sell tickets. But it's not true," Carmichael explained. "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."
"Chappelle, do you know what comes up when you Google your name, bro? That is the legacy? Your legacy is a bunch of opinions on trans sh*t? It's an odd hill to die on," Carmichael remarked.
Comedian Wanda Sykes, who's also had various Netflix specials, candidly discussed that her presence on the streaming service as a queer comedian releasing the 2023 special I'm an Entertainer did not balance out Chappelle's transphobia.
"Um, I don't know about balancing it out, because I think what he said was so hurtful and damaging to the trans community," Sykes commented. "So, yeah, the scale is still tipped, I would say, in their favor. But I know I wanted to say something, because so much has been said on that platform. I definitely want to say something on the other side of it."
After Chappelle made even more transphobic jokes in his next two specials — What's in a Name? and The Dreamer — Independent Spirit Awards nominee Trace Lysette (Monica) shared a TikTok video calling out the comedian, which went viral.
"So, at this point, it's giving client," Lysette joked in the video. "I don't know what doll hurt Dave Chappelle. I really don't. But it's giving disgruntled client. It's giving angry trick. It's giving… He wanted to kiss on the mouth and she was like, 'No, I don't do that. I up-charge for that. If you wanna do that, you gotta give me X, Y, Z.' And he was like, 'Oh, no, ma'am,' and his ego was bruised, honey. So you went on a rampage. It's giving angry trick. Am I lying? Dolls, am I lying? Oh, my god. Who goes on to make three specials, three comedy specials, about the dolls? Because you can't take. Get him some help."
@tracelysette You aint fooling nobody Dave
Mey Rude is a journalist and cultural critic who has been covering queer news for a decade. The transgender, Latina lesbian lives in Los Angeles with her fiancée.
Mey Rude is a journalist and cultural critic who has been covering queer news for a decade. The transgender, Latina lesbian lives in Los Angeles with her fiancée.
