Why Fans Are Absolutely Fuming At John Mulaney Over Dave Chappelle

Former "Saturday Night Live" writer John Mulaney is no stranger to the edgy and boundary-pushing world of comedy. As someone who has struggled with substance addiction, Mulaney has cracked dark jokes about sobriety and rehab to make light of his personal life. 

Another stand-up comedy legend who has been dominating the headlines as of late for his uncouth brand of comedy is Dave Chappelle, whose Netflix special "The Closer" rocked fans and viewers alike with his controversial comments about the transgender and queer community. The stand-up routine saw Chappelle calling himself "team TERF" (trans-exclusionary radical feminist) and mocking Caitlyn Jenner while applauding JK Rowling's anti-trans comments, per USA Today. His comments were so inflammatory that Netflix employees staged a walk-out, per The Verge, and GLAAD also issued a statement to Variety, writing that "media representation has consequences for LGBTQ people. Film and TV have been filled with stereotypes and misinformation about us, leading to real world harm, especially for trans people and LGBTQ people of color."

While Mulaney's friendship with Chappelle might not have been common knowledge, it is now. On May 20, Mulaney had a stop in Columbus, Ohio for his "From Scratch" comedy tour, and Chappelle made a surprise appearance on stage as Mulaney's opening act, per USA Today. While there were reportedly no phones allowed out during the show, many Mulaney fans took to social media after the event to decry what they called Chappelle's commitment to pushing his anti-LGBTQ+ world views on unsuspecting audience members during his set.

According to a viral Twitter thread, comedian Dave Chappelle's unannounced set on John Mulaney's comedy tour was loaded with anti-LGBTQ+, racist, and even ableist comments directed at an audience member with a service animal. The thread reports that Mulaney came out after Chappelle's set and called Chappelle one of his "best friends," seemingly endorsing Chappelle's offensive comments. While no one rushed the stage to tackle Chappelle this time, Mulaney fans are absolutely fuming that they were ambushed by Chappelle's brand of comedy without their consent, and what's more, that Mulaney would allow this to happen. 

"I care about him platforming transphobes and siccing them on the queers in his audience with absolutely no warning," one user wrote. Another voiced, "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."

While many users expressed disappointment in Mulaney, one Twitter user summed up their feelings differently: "While I'm disappointed in John Mulaney, I'm not surprised. It speaks to how normalized transphobia is in comedy & how cis dudes don't have to care about it, so they won't. My sympathy lies with trans folks in the audience who wanted a fun night & got a reminder of hate instead."