Dave Chappelle makes trans jokes in Netflix special The Dreamer

Dave Chappelle has continued to mock trans people in his latest Netflix special, The Dreamer.

The Dreamer, which dropped on Sunday (31 December), focuses on the early years of Chapelle’s career in entertainment and how he became successful. But the comedian, who has previously been criticised for comments about trans people, quickly moved on to making jokes at the expense of the trans community.

Just a few minutes into the new show, he told the audience that trans people “make [him] feel” he has to go along with them, as if they’re method acting like Jim Carrey as madcap funny man Andy Kaufman in the 1999 biopic Man on the Moon. 

He went on to say: “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**king with those people any more. 

“It wasn’t worth the trouble. I ain’t saying s**t about them. Maybe three or four times tonight, but that’s it. 

“I’m tired of talking about them. And you want to know why I’m tired of talking about them? Because these people acted like I needed them to be funny. Well, that’s ridiculous. I don’t need you.”

Chappelle claimed he had a “whole new angle coming” because he’s now targeting disabled people. 

“Tonight, I’m doing all handicapped jokes. They’re not as organised as the gays, and I love punching down.”

Chappelle then returned to his thoughts about the trans community. 

“To be honest with you, I’ve been trying to repair my relationship with the transgender community ’cause I don’t want them to think I don’t like them,” he said. 

“You know how I’ve been repairing it? I wrote a play. I did, ’cause I know 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***a. 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.”

Chappelle has come under fire in recent years for his frequent comments about the trans community, including in his 2021 Netflix special The Closer, where he declared he’s “team TERF”, and made explicit jokes about trans women’s genitals. 

The release of The Closer prompted employee walkouts and protests at the time. While Netflix’s co-chief executive Ted Sarandos initially defended the comedian, he later said he “screwed up” in his reaction to the controversy. 

In the wake of the backlash, Chappelle whined about “cancel culture” – despite performing sold-out shows and continuing his partnership with Netflix. 

Later in The Dreamer, Chappelle spoke about when he was attacked on stage at the Hollywood Bowl in 2022, suggesting to the audience that it “was a trans man” who attacked him. 

He said he had read an article about how he had “triggered” the attacker because he made LGBTQ+ jokes. Chappelle added that, knowing the attacker was bisexual, he “could have been raped”. 

If he ever went to jail, he hoped it would be in California because he would tell the judge that he “identifies as a woman” so he would serve time in a “woman’s jail”, Chappelle quipped. 

“As soon as I get in there, you know what I’m doing,” he said. 

“‘Give me your fruit cocktail, b***h, before I knock your motherf**king teeth out. I’m a girl, just like you, b***h. Come here and suck this girl d**k I got. Don’t make me explain myself, I’m a girl.’”