John Mulaney has never been an “edgy” comic, and by that we mean he doesn’t tell jokes that deliberately piss people off. The closest he comes to that is in a recently released clip, in which he tells people who believe all stand-ups are damaged people to “f*ck off with that s*it.” In other words, he’s no Dave Chappelle, who seems to have rebranded himself as a performer who makes lots and lots and lots of trans jokes. Perhaps that’s why people were taken aback when a show did on Friday featured a surprise appearance from the guy who pissed off a legion of Netflix staffers.
As per Variety, Mulaney was in at Ohio State University in Columbus. Fans expecting another leg of his “From Scratch” tour found themselves ambushed by Chappelle, who proceeded what he now does best: make jokes about an already marginalized group of people whose lives are being being made even worse by GOP politicians.
Audience members were forced to lock their phones before the show, so no video or even audio exists of Chappelle’s comments. But sure as God made little green apples, he reportedly dropped some more of his anti-trans gags. When Chappelle’s set was over, Mulaney came out and gave him a big hug.
Though Chappelle’s jokes reportedly got laughs, it left others present fuming on social media once they got their phones back, slamming both Chappelle and Mulaney for inviting him.
my favorite part of tonight was when dave chappelle ambushed us at the john mulaney show, told a bunch of transphobic jokes, a massive stadium of people laughed, and then john mulaney hugged him at the end
— rylan ☻ (@testosteronejew) May 21, 2022
y’all ever hear ~12,000 people laugh at a transphobic joke, while you’re a trans person in the audience who didn’t know the transphobic comedian would make a surprise appearance at the John Mulaney show? yeah. wasn’t fun. fuck you D.C.
— rae (spookiest version) (@raegan_givant) May 21, 2022
okay so tell me why I just went to the John Mulaney show and Dave Chappelle was a surprise opener and made not only a transphobic joke but a homophobic one
— maddie (@boobeoisie) May 21, 2022
Celebrities who like to portray an image of a nice, politically conscious, cool-and-feminist guy almost always nope out when it gets inconvenient. You might say they have the moral backbone of a chocolate eclair. This is a tweet about John Mulaney.
— adele castro (@chameleonghosts) May 21, 2022
Disappointed in John Mulaney but also really crushed to know that Chappelle has leaned into transphobia so much that it’s pretty much his only bit now… https://t.co/YfsCwMjTnJ
— Vonté the Mencace of Yts (@NepSwirlRedux) May 21, 2022
That’s AWFUL.
POV: You sign up and pay for John Mulaney’s comedy and are instead forced to suffer through your own dehumanization by someone you would not knowingly pay to listen to. I wish cisgender people would get it through their thick skulls how harmful this actually is. https://t.co/7oDM4n7Ksv
— Chris Talbot-Heindl (they/them) (@talbot_heindl) May 21, 2022
How the actual goddamn fuck could John Mulaney look at his audience, be fully aware of the sort of people who go to his shows, and think “ah yes, surely they would want to watch Dave Chappelle spout off a few bigoted jokes, completely unprompted”?
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It also prompted other performers to promise they wouldn’t pull a Mulaney on their ticketholders.
I pledge no anti trans weirdo surprise guests on my summer tour.
— Tim Heidecker (@timheidecker) May 21, 2022
dave chappelle wont be dropping in on my shows, if that’s what was stopping you from buying tickets.
— Kyle Kinane (Charlotte NC 6/2-4) (@kylekinane) May 21, 2022
Chappelle so loves going after people who are already targeted by states like Florida that, after he was attacked on stage earlier this month, he made sure to slip one of them in, too.
(Via Variety)