Jerrod Carmichael says Dave Chappelle is an ‘egomaniac’ who wanted apology for trans jokes criticism
Carmichael argues that Chappelle’s recent comedy specials don’t reveal ‘anything personal about himself’
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Jerrod Carmichael says Dave Chappelle is an “egomaniac” who wanted him to apologise for criticising his jokes about transgender people.
Carmichael, 36, first raised the idea that Chappelle, 50, might be tarnishing his comedic legacy by fixating on jokes about the transgender community in an interview with GQ magazine in 2022.
“Chappelle, do you know what comes up when you Google your name, bro?” Carmichael asked. “That’s the legacy? Your legacy is a bunch of opinions on trans s***? It’s an odd hill to die on. And it’s like, ‘Hey, bro. Who the f*** are you? Who do you f***? What do you like to do?’”
He added: “Childish jokes aside, who the f*** are you? It’s just kind of played. But he’s choosing to die on the hill. So, alright, let him.”
In a new interview with Esquire, Carmichael revealed that Chappelle had joked about the younger comedian’s Emmy-winning stand-up special Rothaniel, during which he publicly came out as gay, by calling it “the bravest special for 1996”.
Carmichael added: “And it’s like, that’s a funny enough line, whatever, but I wonder if he gets the irony that the fact that you are mocking it even then is why it was hard.”
He went on to say that Chappelle had seemingly bristled at being criticised for telling jokes about transgender people. “He took it as ‘F*** Dave Chappelle,’ because he’s an egomaniac. He wanted me to apologize to him publicly or some s***.”
Carmichael continued to say that Chappelle’s recent specials are “not revealing anything personal about himself and he’s removed from what he’s talking about, and I think he’s smarter than that and deeper than that and has more interesting thoughts”.
Earlier this week, Carmichael praised Tyler, the Creator for being open to discussing his unrequited love for the rapper on camera, saying “he was down for something chaotic”.
The comedian recently launched an unconventional HBO documentary series called Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show.
In the first episode, he explores the awkward situation in his personal life after he developed a crush on his best friend, rapper Tyler, the Creator, 33.
In a stand-up performance filmed for the premiere episode, Carmichael says: “I fell in love with my best friend. 1 out of 10, don’t recommend.”
In the Esquire interview, Carmichael praised Tyler for agreeing to be interviewed on camera about the subject. “I think that conversation is so wild and important, and I mostly have gratitude to him for doing it,” said the comedian. “It’s a conversation that’s never happened before on TV, and he knows that I’m insane, I guess, so he was down for something chaotic.”
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments