In recent years, much has been made of stand-up comedians taking their routines too far, perhaps offending for the sheer sake of offending rather than to make people laugh. This has occurred on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean with two of comedy‘s big names, Dave Chappelle and Ricky Gervais.
Concerning his most recent Netflix comedy special SuperNature, Gervais was the subject of much criticism when he appeared to make “anti-trans” statements. One segment described a hypothetical conversation with a trans woman, in which Gervais mocked the hypothetical woman in question for having a penis.Last year, Dave Chappelle was called out under similar circumstances on the other side of the pond. In his comedy special The Closer, Chappelle also made jokes about the trans community and, like Gervais, paid particular attention to their genitalia. In a previous special, Sticks and Stones, Chappelle had also referred to trans people as “confusing”.
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