Dave Chappelle focuses on trans communities and people with disabilities in the Netflix special The Dreamer

After receiving harsh criticism for his comments about transgender and LGBTQ+ communities in his previous Netflix special the closer Dave Chappelle once again poked fun at transgender people and took aim at the disabled community in his latest special The dreamer.

Chappelle focused his opening on the trans community. He remembers meeting Jim Carrey on the set of the 1999 film man in the moon in which Carrey plays the late comedian Andy Kaufman.

“I was very disappointed because I wanted to meet Jim Carrey and had to pretend to be Andy Kaufman all afternoon. It was definitely Jim Carrey. “I could look at him and clearly see that it was Jim Carrey,” Chappelle said, describing how Carrey stayed in character even off camera. “I say all this to say… this is what trans people make me feel.”

He then moved into the disabled community. “Tonight I’m making all kinds of disabled jokes. “They’re not as organized as the gays and I’m happy to take them to the floor,” he said.

Chappelle later returned to his thoughts on the trans community.

“To be honest, I’ve been trying to improve my relationship with the transgender community because I don’t want them to think I don’t like them,” he said. “You know how I fixed it? I wrote a play. I have. Because I know gays like plays. It’s a very sad piece, but it’s moving. It’s about a black transgender woman whose pronoun is unfortunately n***a. It’s a tearjerker. At the end of the play, she dies of loneliness because white liberals don’t know how to talk to her. It’s pathetic.”

Chappelle’s harsh words in his previous special The closer led to an employee strike and rally with more than 100 protesters at Netflix in 2021.

The streamer issued a statement ahead of the strike and after Netflix CEO and Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos initially defended Chappelle’s comments, saying he did not believe the special broadcast criticized by GLAAD “crossed the line of hate .” He later admitted that the internal response to the controversy had failed.

“We appreciate our transgender colleagues and allies and understand the great pain caused,” a Netflix spokesperson said. “We respect the decision of each employee who leaves the company and recognize that we still have work to do, both within Netflix and in our content.”