Comedian Jerrod Carmichael calls Dave Chappelle an “egomaniac” and doubles down on criticism of anti-trans legacy

Jerrod Carmichael has recently opened up about his criticisms towards Dave Chappelle.

Speaking with Esquire to promote his new HBO series, Jarrod Carmichael Reality Show, the comedian spoke about Chappelle, who has received backlash in recent years for comments made about the transgender community.

In April 2022, during his HBO special Rothaniel, Carmichael came out as gay. Following this, Chappelle reportedly made jokes about the set and “referred to it as the bravest special for 1996”.

He added: “And it’s like, that’s a funny enough line, whatever, but I wonder if he gets the irony that the fact that you are mocking it even then is why it was hard.”

This comes after previous criticisms made by Carmichael towards Chappelle, including when he said in a GQ interview in 2022: “Chappelle, do you know what comes up when you Google your name, bro?”

He continued: “That’s the legacy? Your legacy is a bunch of opinions on trans shit? It’s an odd hill to die on. And it’s like, ‘Hey, bro. Who the fuck are you? Who do you fuck? What do you like to do?’”

“Childish jokes aside, who the fuck are you?” Carmichael continued. “It’s just kind of played. But he’s choosing to die on the hill. So, alright, let him.”

Later in his Esquire interview, he commented on Chappelle’s reception of his criticisms: “He took it as ‘Fuck Dave Chappelle,’ because he’s an egomaniac. He wanted me to apologize to him publicly or some shit.”

He expanded: “[Chappelle is] not revealing anything personal about himself and he’s removed from what he’s talking about, and I think he’s smarter than that and deeper than that and has more interesting thoughts.”

Back in February, Chappelle won the Grammy Award for Best Comedy Album, for a speech he made defending artistic expression.

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