Michelle Buteau isn’t holding back.
In her new Netflix special, Michelle Buteau: A Buteau-ful Mind at Radio City Music Hall, the comedian criticized Dave Chappelle for repeatedly making jokes about the transgender community. The special, released Tuesday, includes Buteau addressing the issue directly during her set.
After sharing a story about a “Black lesbian friend,” Buteau noticed mixed reactions from the audience. She used the moment to emphasize that comedians can tell jokes and stories without putting down entire groups of people.
“We can do that. We can make it funny,” she told the crowd. “We just have to put in the effort, right?”
She then called out Chappelle, saying, “If you ever run into Dave Chappelle, can you let him know that? I don’t think he knows.”
Referring to him as “the GOAT” (short for “greatest of all time”), she added a twist: “For him, it stands for ‘going off on trans people.’”
“Dave, it’s not funny. It’s dangerous,” she said, earning applause from the audience. “Make it funny. I can’t believe someone would make millions of dollars making people feel unsafe. That’s wild to me.”
Buteau continued, saying she’s aiming to make millions “by making people feel safe, seen, secure, heard, and entertained.”
In an interview with USA Today on Tuesday, Buteau elaborated. “I’m not saying you can’t say things—I’m saying, ‘Can you make it funny?’ Because right now, it’s not. You’re hurting people and making it dangerous.”
“It’s not just Chappelle,” she added. “It’s part of a larger culture I don’t understand. People say, ‘We can’t do what we used to do.’ Well, slavery used to be legal. Sometimes, you have to move forward. Wrap your head around it.”
Chappelle faced backlash for his 2021 Netflix special The Closer, which many criticized as transphobic.
