Dave Chappelle bringing laughs, controversy to San Antonio on Wednesday

When he's on target, Dave Chappelle is one of the funniest people alive. Which makes it all the more unfortunate that he's chosen to double down on the transphobic jokes he inserted into recent comedy specials.

In The Closer, he devoted a lengthy segment to mocking trans people, declaring himself a trans-exclusionary radical feminist, or TERF, and making the proclamation that "gender is a fact."

As recently as this January, Chappelle painted himself as the victim when trans people protested one of his shows in Minneapolis. He even went so far as to claim they had the "intention of inciting violence against themselves for publicity."

Will Chappelle go on a transphobic diatribe when he appears in San Antonio? Who knows. But given the unprecedented wave of anti-LGBTQ+ bills introduced in Texas and other states this year, it should be clear that the community deserves dignity and respect, not jabs from comics looking for cheap laughs or to point fingers at overzealous social justice warriors.

While Chappelle's tour will draw fans, he's damaged his rep as a comic once unafraid to painfully peel back the Band-Aid on legitimate social ills. Punching down instead of up is a cruel, lazy choice from a humorist who should be smart and sophisticated enough to know better.

$63.50 and up, 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 12, AT&T Center, 1 AT&T Center Parkway, (210) 444-5140, attcenter.com.

Subscribe to SA Current newsletters.

Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter| Or sign up for our RSS Feed