What did Dave Chappelle say about trans and disabled people? Comedian sparks controversy over new Netflix special 'The Dreamer'

Comedian Dave Chappelle's latest Netflix special, The Dreamer, was released on December 31, 2023, and it took the internet by storm. The crux of the show was about the early years of his career until he found fame. However, the first 12 minutes dealt with Dave Chappelle taking a dig at the trans community, according to Variety.

Trigger warning: This article contains sensitive references to trans and disabled communities. Readers' discretion is advised.

The comedian began his first set by narrating how he met actor Jim Carrey on the set of the 1999 film, Man on the Moon. Carrey played the role of the legendary comedian Andy Kaufman in the film. However, during his set, Dave Chappelle noted that he was "very disappointed" while talking to Carrey, who pretended to be Kaufman the entire day. Following that, he mentioned:

“That’s how trans people make me feel.”

Besides mocking trans people, he also took a dig at the disabled community, which has now sparked controversy online. Here's what he said about them.

"Tonight, I am doing all handicapped jokes... I love punching down," he quipped.

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Dave Chappelle faces online backlash for his controversial newest Netflix special

Comedian Dave Chappelle has made headlines with his jokes about the trans and differently-abled communities as part of his recent Netflix special The Dreamer. He began the show with the controversial Jim Carrey joke and then addressed the scandal surrounding his anti-trans material in the past few comedy shows.

“If you guys came here to this show tonight thinking that I’m going to make fun of those people again, you’ve come to the wrong show. I’m not f*cking with those people anymore. It wasn’t worth the trouble. I ain’t saying sh*t about them. Maybe three or four times tonight, but that’s it,” he quipped.

Dave Chappelle further continued by saying that he was “tired” of discussing trans people because “these people acted like I needed them to be funny,” which he found “ridiculous.”

“I don’t need you. I got a whole new angle coming. You guys will never see this sh*t coming. I ain’t doing trans jokes no more,” the comic added.

Immediately after this, he said how he was going to move on and joke about the “handicapped” community because they were not “as organized as the gays” and he loved “punching down.”

Here, he mentioned a paraplegic and former North Carolina GOP representative Madison Cawthorn, and claimed when he met him, he just “walked away” simply because he wanted him “to see me do something he couldn’t do.” The 50-year-old comic also said that the alleged encounter happened at an o*gy.

Consequently, Dave Chappelle went back to the trans topic and spoke about how he was “trying to repair” his relationship with the community as he didn’t want them to think he didn’t “like” them. In fact, the comedian said he wrote a play for them as he was aware of how “gays love plays.”

“It’s a very sad play, but it’s moving. It’s about a Black transgender woman whose pronoun is, sadly, n*gga. It’s a tear-jerker. At the end of the play, she dies of loneliness cause white liberals don’t know how to speak to her. It’s sad.”

Dave Chappelle also visited the idea that if he ever went to prison, he wished it was in California. He continued saying how he would tell the judge before his sentencing that he identified as a woman and send him to a women’s prison.

“As soon I get in there, you know what I’mma be doing. ‘Give me your fruit cocktail, b*tch, before I knock your mother*cking teeth out. I’m a girl, just like you, b*tch. Come here and suck this girl d*ck I got. Don’t make me explain myself. I’m a girl,” Chappelle joked.

Since Chappelle's take on the trans and disabled communities went viral, he faced online backlash. Here are some of the reactions in this regard, from the comment section of @Esqueer_’s tweet.

It is noteworthy that Dave Chappelle also took a hit at Will Smith and Chris Rock’s Oscar incident during his Netflix special.

At one point, he also recalled being attacked on stage at the Hollywood Bowl in 2022. When the situation was diffused, and he responded with “It was a trans man!” to allegedly lighten the mood, the joke backfired and the crowd went, “Boo. It’s L.A. We like trans people.”

Continuing to narrate the incident, he stated how the assailant reportedly carried a knife which was actually a firearm and assaulted him because he triggered him with his LGBTQ jokes. Dave Chappelle also noted he “could have been r*ped” knowing that the attacker was a bis*xual.

For those uninitiated, The Dreamer was filmed in front of a live audience at Washington D.C.’s Lincoln Theater and is the comedian’s seventh Netflix special. Interestingly, during the 2021 special The Closer, Chappelle first joked about the trans community, which triggered protests and resignations inside Netflix. Similarly, his 2019 Netflix special, Sticks & Stones, also sparked controversy.

Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos initially defended Dave saying he had creative freedom to write his jokes, but later confessed to messing up with his reaction, as per Variety.