Marlon Wayans defends Dave Chappelle's trans jokes while having transgender child

Comedian Marlon Wayans defended his friendship with fellow comic Dave Chappelle despite the latter's jokes about the transgender community.

"I wouldn’t hang with Dave if he was full of hate. I don’t hang with people like that," Wayans told Variety on Monday. "I know Dave’s heart, and his intention isn’t to punch down. Dave wants to freely tell his jokes, and if you’re going to be anti-comedy, then he’s going to keep attacking you until you learn to have a sense of humor. He’s just standing there and defending his front line as a comedian."

The "Scary Movie" actor was asked how he views that relationship considering his own transgender child. Wayans insisted that he wasn't going to tell Chappelle what he couldn't joke about and viewed Chappelle as fighting a "war" with his critics over censorship.

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Dave Chappelle and Marlon Wayans are seen on June 30, 2019, in Los Angeles, California. ( gotpap/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images via Getty Images)

"As a comedian, I respect his journey. And as a friend, I respect his journey. And for my child, I respect their journey," Wayans said. "And as the father of my child, I can appropriate my feelings toward my friend and my feelings toward my child, and how we can put those two things together, and I can explain both sides. I’m between them, so I can explain both sides to each other."

Wayans revealed that he even attempted to include a cameo for Chappelle in the upcoming "Scary Movie 6."

"I wrote two really funny scenes for Chappelle and pitched them both. And he was like, ‘Ahhhh,’" Wayans said. "I love Dave, and he’s like a brother, and I hope one day I’ll get that cameo." 

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Marlon Wayans defended his friendship with Dave Chappelle despite Wayans having a transgender child. (Candice Ward/Getty Images for Paramount Pictures; Arturo Holmes/Getty Images)

Fox News Digital reached out to Chappelle's publicist for comment.

In 2021, Chappelle faced backlash from the left for transgender jokes in his Netflix special, "The Closer." Trans activists urged Netflix to drop the program and a small group of Netflix employees also staged a walkout in protest.

In 2023, he continued to make jokes about transgender people in his special "The Dreamer," when he recounted visiting Jim Carrey on the set of his 1999 movie, "The Man on the Moon." 

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Carrey employed a "method" approach to portraying real-life comedian Andy Kaufman by remaining in character at all times, and Chappelle was told by the crew to address Carrey as "Andy" when he met him.

Dave Chappelle faced backlash from the left for making jokes about the transgender community. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)

"I wanted to meet Jim Carrey and I had to pretend this n---a was Andy Kaufman all afternoon. And he was clearly Jim Carrey. I could look at him and I could see he was Jim Carrey," he remarked. "Anyway, I say all that to say that's how trans people make me feel."

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Wayans has also frequently spoken out against cancel culture and encouraged comedians to use off-color jokes despite the threat of backlash.