Actor Wil Wheaton has publicly apologized for his past homophobic remarks and also criticized Dave Chappelle’s recent comments about transgender individuals in his Netflix special.
In a Facebook post, the former “Star Trek: The Next Generation” actor referenced Eddie Murphy’s 1983 stand-up show “Delirious” while addressing his apology for using a slur directed at gay men in a locker room during his youth. Expressing his embarrassment and horror, Wheaton admitted that he still thinks about the incident and offered a belated apology nearly 30 years later.
Sharing in his post, Wheaton recalled, “For much of my teen years, I was embarrassingly homophobic, and it all started with that comedy special.”
Wheaton then shifted his focus to Chappelle’s remarks in his controversial Netflix special “The Closer,” calling out those who defended Chappelle solely based on his race. He explained why Murphy’s special had a significant impact on him during his youth.
Expressing his disapproval of certain jokes as “dehumanizing to gay men,” Wheaton added, “For a transgender person, those ‘jokes’ normalize hateful, ignorant, bigoted behavior towards them. And it’s all okay, because they were dehumanized by a Black man. And the disingenuous argument that it’s actually racist to hold Chappelle accountable for this? Get the f–k out of here.”
“It had bits that still kill me. The ice cream song, Aunt Bunny falling down the stairs, mom throwing the shoe. Really funny stuff. There is also extensive homophobic material that is just f–king appalling and inexcusable. Young Wil, who watched this with his suburban white upper middle class friends, in his privileged bubble, thought it was the funniest, edgiest, dirtiest thing he’d ever heard. It killed him.”