Dave Chappelle says the media took his jokes out of context on the Obama podcast
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In a featured interview released Wednesday, comedy legend Dave Chappelle joined former first lady Michelle Obama and her brother, Craig Robinson, on their IMO podcast to discuss the “avalanche” of the modern news cycle and the unique loss of public discourse.
The episode, filmed in Chappelle’s hometown of Yellow Springs, Ohio, finds the comedian reflecting on his past feuds with a mixture of irreverence and exhaustion, at one point joking that his transgender comedy battles now feel like “the good old days” compared to the current state of the world.
Addressing the years of backlash following his Netflix specials such as “The Closer,” Chappelle asserted that the media often misrepresented his relationship with the subjects of his comedy.
“People would think I’m anti-gay… I’ve never looked at it like that,” Chappelle said. “I always thought it was a business interest and a culture of negotiation itself.”
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Dave Chappelle was a hot topic in the early 2020s as his popular comedic ways involving transgender ideas angered many liberal audiences. (Arturo Holmes/Getty Images)
Chappelle offered a strong defense of the comedy club as a sanctuary for free speech, describing it as a place where “every imaginable point of view is represented” and where comics of all backgrounds—including transgender, Black, White, and Asian—refuse to silence each other.
“We may take it out on stage… but silencing that person will be nothing,” he said, adding that behind the scenes, the comedians “are all drinking loudly” and speeding up disagreements as artists.
He reserved his sharp criticism of the media, accusing outlets of removing “nuance” from art to fit a dual narrative.
“Nothing drives a comedian crazy like reading his joke in the paper,” Chappelle said. “If [art] it will be good or i hope it will be good, you have to be a little bit wrong…
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Comedian Dave Chappelle spoke to Michelle Obama about the backlash not only to viewers, but to the media, who mocked her for criticizing her stance without even addressing it. (Amanda Andrade-Rhoades/For The Washington Post)
The conversation changed dramatically when discussing the current political and social situation. Chappelle lamented the 24-hour news cycle he finds increasingly intense.
“Every day the news cycle is scarier than the last, and this just doesn’t seem like it’s going to end,” Chappelle said. And every week I learn a new word, like ‘Strait of Hormuz,’ or blah, blah, blah.”
He even used his daughter’s opinion to take on President Donald Trump, who has been under constant attack lately. Chappelle recalls telling someone: “You know, my daughter’s 16, so Donald Trump is the first White president she’s ever seen. And my kid’s like, ‘No! They’re not good, Dad!'”
In a moment of dark sarcasm, Chappelle noted that the serious “cancellation” efforts he has faced in recent years now seem to be on the wane. “Someone asked me about my transgender jokes … and I go, ‘Ah, the good old days!'”
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Dave Chappelle said that every day’s news is more shocking than the last, joking that there was less concern in the days he faced widespread rejection. (Rosalind O’Connor/NBC)
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