Jerrod Carmichael Claims Dave Chappelle Is An ‘Egomaniac’

Jerrod Carmichael is accusing Dave Chappelle of being an "egomaniac" for his response to his criticism of his anti-trans material.

Jerrod Carmichael is accusing Dave Chappelle of being an “egomaniac” for his response to the constructive criticism he gave about Chappelle’s anti-trans material.

It’s been two years since Carmichael publicly criticized Chappelle’s “opinions on trans sh*t” in an interview with GQ. While the “Reality Show” star only meant to offer the veteran comedian some feedback, Carmichael believes Chappelle was offended by his commentary.

“He took it as, ‘Fu*k Dave Chappelle,’ because he’s an egomaniac,” Carmichael explained in Esquire’s digital April cover. “He wanted me to apologize to him publicly or some sh*t.”

Chappelle’s “What’s in a Name” comedy stand-up special was quietly released by Netflix in July 2022. Filmed during his 40-minute speech at the Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, DC, where a theater was supposed to be named after him, Chappelle upset students with his trans jokes and defense of his 2021 comedy special “The Closer” where he also made jokes about the trans community.

When sharing his opinion on the special with GQ, Carmichael called out Chappelle for seemingly standing by his anti-trans material despite how backlash clouded the comedian’s legacy.

“Chappelle, do you know what comes up when you Google your name, bro? That’s the legacy? Your legacy is a bunch of opinions on trans sh*t? It’s an odd hill to die on,” Carmichael quipped.

2022 was the same year “The Carmichael Show” star came out as gay in his stand-up special, “Rothaniel,” one which Chappelle called “the bravest special for 1996.” While Carmichael got the joke, he was still bothered by the irony of how the joke highlighted his continued battle with his sexuality.

“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,” he told Esquire.

“So much of comedy is just gay jokes. As long as people continue to laugh at it and mock it, and as long as it’s a punchline, it’s going to be scary for somebody. It’s scary for me.”

Carmichael acknowledges how personal his “Rothaniel” material was to him when accusing Chappelle of producing jokes that show how “he’s removed from what he’s talking about,” he said. Carmichael believes Chappelle is “smarter than that and deeper than that and has more interesting thoughts” than repeated trans jokes.

Chappelle came under fire in December 2023 with his “The Closer” special which once again took aim at trans people in jokes made throughout the stand-up show.