John Mulaney Faces Backlash for Having Dave Chappelle as Surprise Opening Act, Trans Fans & Allies Speak Out
John Mulaney is facing backlash online after welcoming Dave Chappelle to the stage at his show this weekend.
The comedian was the headliner at a show in Columbus, Ohio on Friday (May 20) and Dave popped on stage to be the surprise opener.
Fans were required to lock their phones up before the show, so there is no footage of the set, but attendees say that Dave made transphobic jokes. After his opening set, John came on stage and gave Dave a hug.
Trans fans in attendance and allies of the community are speaking out against John for welcoming Dave to the show.
Click inside to read more…
“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. f–k you D.C.,” one fan tweeted.
Another said, “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. anyway i was such a big john mulaney fan and i think i still am, but they also had our phones in little locked wallets so we couldn’t film, so i just had to sit there joke after joke about trans people and hear 18k people laughing along.”
Read more tweets below…
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
anyway i was such a big john mulaney fan and i think i still am, but they also had our phones in little locked wallets so we couldn’t film, so i just had to sit there joke after joke about trans people and hear 18k people laughing along
— rylan ☻ (@testosteronejew) 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
Pretty disappointed in John Mulaney, saw him tonight and yeah, he was funny, but he gave Dave Chapelle the platform to make some transphobic jokes. Also very disheartening to hear a crowd of 12,000 around you (a trans person) laughing at transphobic jokes. Thanks Columbus.
— Libby (@libbeefy) 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