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Actor and comic Patton Oswalt has issued a passionate apology following a flood of criticism over an Instagram post. In it, Oswalt revealed that he spent New Year’s Eve with longtime friend Dave Cappelle.
“Finished me set at @mccawhall and got a text from @davechappelle,” Oswalt posted on January 31. “Come over to the arena he’s performing in next door and do a guest set. Why not? I waved good-bye to this hell-year with a genius I started comedy with 34 years ago. He works an arena like he’s talking to one person and charming their skin off. Anyway, I ended the year with a real friend and a deep laugh. Can’t ask for much more.”
The post ignited immediate backlash from Oswalt’s transgender fans who expressed disappointment at his choice of company.
As a trans person and a fan of your work, this is extremely disappointing.
You've been open about your journey towards more empathetic comedy, so I ask you: please think about how this makes your trans fans feel.
— Cassie Stole Your Apes (@CassieCeleste) January 1, 2022
“As a trans person and a fan of your work, this is extremely disappointing,” wrote Twitter user @CassieCeleste. “You’ve been open about your journey towards more empathetic comedy, so I ask you: please think about how this makes your trans fans feel.”
I understand valuing your long friendship,but I’m surprised you wouldn’t know your posts here & on IG hurt people that deserve better. Read through those saddened vs. those defending… that would be enough to make me uncomfortable.
— Tauna (@tauna79) January 1, 2022
“I understand valuing your long friendship, but I’m surprised you wouldn’t know your posts here & on IG hurt people that deserve better,” said @tauna79. “Read through those saddened vs. those defending… that would be enough to make me uncomfortable.”
did you watch his special? his "my transphobia is okay because I have a trans friend" story was all about exploiting said trans friend.
— Doors In The Labyrinth (@joshloughrey) January 1, 2022
“Did you watch his special?” asked @joshloughrey. “His ‘my transphobia is okay because I have a trans friend’ story was all about exploiting said trans friend.”
Aware of the growing backlash, Oswalt ">issued a statement on Instagram decrying Chapplle’s beliefs about transgender people while also defending their friendship.
“I saw a friend I hadn’t seen in a long time this New Year’s Eve,” Oswalt wrote. “We’ve known each other since we’re teens. He’s a fellow comedian, the funniest I’ve ever met. I wanted to post a pic & an IG story about it — so I did. The friend is Dave Chappelle. Thirty-four YEARS we’ve been friends. He’s refocused and refined ideas a lot of us took as settled about race & history & Life On Planet Earth and spun them around with a phrase or punchline. We’ve done bad & good gigs, open mikes & TV tapings.”
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“But we also 100% disagree about transgender rights & representation,” he further declared. “I support trans peoples’ rights — ANYONE’S rights — to live safely in the world as their fullest selves. For all the things he’s helped ME evolve on, I’ll always disagree with where he stands NOW on transgender issues. But I also don’t believe a seeker like him is done evolving, learning. You know someone that long, see the struggles and changes, it’s impossible to cut them off. Impossible not to be hopeful and open and cheer them on. Also, I’ve been carrying a LOT of guilt about friends I’ve cut off, who had views with which I couldn’t agree, or changed in ways I couldn’t live with. Sometimes I wonder — did I and others cutting them off make them dig their heels in deeper, fuel their ignorance with a nitro-boost of resentment and spite?”
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“I’m an LGBTQ ally,” Oswalt asserted. “I’m a loyal friend. There’s friction in those traits that I need to reconcile myself, and not let cause feels of betrayal in ANYONE else. And I’m sorry, truly sorry, that I didn’t consider the hurt this would cause. Or the DEPTH of that hurt. I’ve been messaging a lot on IG today, and the back and forth has really helped guide me in the writing of this. I (naively) deleted a lot of posts in the comment thread — critical ones from LGBTQ writers AND shit-posts by TERF/anti-trans orcs looking for clicks & giggles. I wanted a ‘nice comment thread’ about the pic with my friend. Ugh. So easy to think someone ELSE needs growth and miss the need in yourself. Gonna keep trying.”
The fan frustration with Oswalt follows a year of controversy surrounding Dave Chappelle and his Netflix comedy special The Closer in which he made homophobic comments and scatological jokes about transgender people and their bodies. Employees at the streaming giant staged a walkout over the special, while Chappelle has refused to apologize.
jonchavez2003
Good for him. That’s an incredibly self aware retort to the criticism. We have to believe people evolve and change. Hell, Obama wasn’t all in on Marriage Equality early on, but he came around and as a result, we have IT! And we still love Obama. I think Dave is really entertaining, and my hope is he eventually evolves on the issue. I’m with Patton, a 34 year friendship ain’t gonna be dissolved over a news heavy social issue.
James Hart
Patton Oswalt is pathetic. Cancel culture strikes another blow against human freedom.
Kangol2
Barack Obama supported marriage equality as an Illinois State Senator representing a predominantly Black district in Chicago!
Hank31
Wow, it was a smart move to denounce his life-long friend in order to stem the “growing backlash” from “Tauna79” and her 19 followers on Twitter!
Cam
What a shock, the same account that will deflect ANY topic so it can attack trans people is here defending Chapelle.
No matter what screename you’re under your trolling is boring and sad.
Fname Optional Lname
and that just proves exactly who Patton is as a human being. He doesn’t care about how much clout or how many followers that person has, he cares that he hurt this person and took the time to admit that he is still evolving as an LGBTQ ally. He is a stand up who has the heart of a lion!
cliche guevara
19 followers? That’s 19 times more relevant than you are Hanky..
TomG
It’s Oswalt career and if he wants to ruin it that is his personal business.
SDR94103
I hope his so called career is over.
Creamsicle
Wow, you must have really hated Ratatouille
Cam
Wow, the troll brought out MULTIPLE screenames.
Nothing enrages the troll more than non-white women speaking, or anything that could be seen as sympathetic to trans people.
Fahd
Seems not like a chance meeting, but more like a staged PR effort to help salvage Chappelle’s reputation from the abyss. Oswalt knew what was going on with Chappelle when he posted the pics. So now Chapelle has a trans friend and a friend who is a friend/supporter of trans people. Does that make it better? Not for me.
Of course, Oswalt’s trans fans are disappointed in him; and although I have never really followed Oswalt’s career nor do I consider myself a fan, I have seen him on the occasional TV show, and this story diminishes my opinion of him.
Openminded
It will be interesting to see if any proof comes to light as to if this was truly a “spur of the moment” invite that Oswalt didn’t do a very good job of thinking all the way thru, or if as you suspect, a preplanned effort to help out an old friend who needed a good PR link to the Trans community. I can accept his reasoning for standing up with Chappelle, assuming his whole story is the truth. We can all have friends and friendships with people that we are polar opposites of on some issues but still have commonalities with on others. This country needs more friendships where people have differing opinions so that we can all learn to understand each other better.
Cam
@Openminded
You keep trying to troll under this screename in spite of being caught multiple times. This is your “Milder” screename, where you post something that at first seems reasonable, but then deeper in you always pull something like you did here, where you hide “Bigotry” or “Hate” behind the term “Different opinions”.
This screename is used up, try another new one.
Paulie P
I don’t love everything about my friends and some of them are life long friends but he should not be made to feel guilty for associating with a long time friend.
Not everything is an ouchie. Get over it. He is an ally and he was simply posing with his friend. Don;’t bring the outside into it.
cliche guevara
It’s funny how many accounts only show up to comment on trans issues… weirdly they are the same people that insist they are no way queer but end up on a website named Queerty. It’s like they are obsessed.
Cozmo2
Don’t apologize you party with your friend
skyboy63
Patton Oswalt is a grown ass man and can hang out with whomever he pleases, no apologies necessary.
Cam
He’s a grown man who felt an apology was necessary.
Creamsicle
I think that queer media and social media is REALLY getting it wrong with Dave Chapelle.
In summer of 2020 progressives had to issue saying that “we should ALL be having UNCOMFORTABLE conversations about race!”
Then Dave Chapelle got up and asked, “Why are LGBTQ+ people gaining acceptance faster than black people? I think it’s because white men are in charge of their movement.”
And then queer media proceeded to prove his point by having a conniption fit for nearly 2 years, and validate one of the things he said in The Closer:
You can kill a black person at a Wal-Mart long before getting famous, and still become a successful artist, but God help you if you hurt a gay [umbrella term] person’s feelings.
(Paraphrased)
I like comedy and seeing how different comics perform. I think Chapelle is an amazing comic and entertainer, but like all comics some of his specials are a swing and a miss. I almost passed on The Closer, because I didn’t like the special he released in 2020 (Sticks & Stones?), which I think had noticable meaner trans jokes (but that’s comedy in general sometimes).
Cam
Except Queer people have been fighting for rights for decades and decades and just got the right to marry a few years ago.
Chapelle’s deal is, he’s pretending we just started fighting 5 years ago and gee, look how fast they’ve gotten their rights.
Then he does the typical right wing point of “THEIR fight is taking away from OTHER people’s fight”. i.e. if Queer people are getting rights so fast, it’s pulling away from rights for Black people.
It’s straight out of the FOX New talking points.
James Hart
Cam:
You sound like a racist.