Reporter Michelle Buteau blasted Dave Chappelle for monetizing “not funny” and “harsh” jokes about the transgender community in his successful Netflix commercials.
Buteau hosted her comedy special “Michelle Buteau: A Buteau-ful Mind at Radio City Music Hall,” which premiered on Netflix Tuesday. During his act, he made an offhand joke about his “beautiful, Black lesbian friend,” who he says is an example of a respectful way to talk about the LGBTQ community.
“What I'm saying can be done. It can be done. We can tell jokes and stories and not insult the whole community,” Buteau said. “We can do that, we can make it funny. You just have to work at it, right?
“So if you guys ever meet Dave Chappelle, can you let him know that s—? I don't think he knows that s—.”
Michelle Buteau invited Dave Chappelle to “Michelle Buteau: A Buteau-ful Mind at Radio City Music Hall”. (© 2020 Netflix, Inc.)
“I don't think we're going to meet Dave because he's a GOAT. And he's a STORY, if that's what it means” from trans people.
“Dave, it's not funny. It's dangerous,” he continued. “I can't believe that somebody would make millions and millions of dollars to make people feel unsafe. That's really wrong to me.”
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Buteau announced, “I'm showing this — tonight. This is Radio City Music Hall loot, and I'm going to tell everybody that I want to make millions and millions of dollars to make people to feel safe, to be seen, to be heard and to have fun.”
Speaking to USA Today In particular, Buteau also pointed to Chappelle's comments and emphasized the importance of supporting the community.
Michelle Buteau called Chappelle's jokes “not funny” and “dangerous.” (Photo by Gilbert Flores/Penske Media via Getty Images | Photo by Shannon Finney/Getty Images)
“I'm not saying you can't say things – I'm just saying, 'Can you make it funny?' Because it doesn't sound funny,” Buteau added. “You hurt people and you make it dangerous. And it's not just Chappelle — it's part of the culture that I don't understand.
“When people say, 'We can't do what we used to do.' Yes! Slavery was legal, you guys have to move on sometimes, and I'm sorry if it's different, but wrap your heads up.
In 2021, Chappelle got into hot water on the left for transgender comedy in his Netflix special, “The Closer.” Trans activists urged Netflix to drop the show and a small group of Netflix employees he made a journey to walk in protest.
In 2023, he continued to do jokes about transgender people in his “The Dreamer” special, he recounts visiting Jim Carrey on the set of his 1999 film, “The Man on the Moon.”
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Comedian Dave Chappelle has been attacked by liberals for years because of his jokes against the transgender community. (Photo by Jeremy Saffer)
Carrey used the “method” of impersonating real-life comedian Andy Kaufman by staying in character all the time, and Chappelle was told by the crew to refer to Carrey as “Andy” when he met him.
“I wanted to meet Jim Carrey and I had to pretend this f— was Andy Kaufman all afternoon. And it was clearly Jim Carrey. I could I looked and saw that it was Jim Carrey,” he said. “However, I'm saying all that to say that this is how trans people make me feel.”
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Fox News' Kristine Parks contributed to this report.