Dave Chappelle has opened up about how he wished he had replied to Bob Saget’s text before the latter’s death last Sunday.
Best known for his stand-up career and work on sitcom Full House, Saget was found dead in his room at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Orlando just hours after he’d finished a gig.
Appearing on stage at the Peppermint Club in Los Angeles, Chappelle talked about Saget’s death and seeing many of his contemporaries pass away: “Listen, I’m getting old, so at my age a lot of people I know die. I started doing this comedy young. All of my peers are older than me.”
He added that he “didn’t see Bob coming” before talking about how Saget had text him just before he died: “Man, he just texted me and I saw the text yesterday and never texted him back because I was just busy. Yeah, it happens. I’m just saying this to remind you: these moments are precious.”
In his set Chappelle also referenced the recent backlash to his transphobic jokes in The Closer, the latest of his specials with Netflix.
The Grammy Award winning comedian said: “The new me is not going to do any of those transphobic bigoted jokes.”
Chappelle, who has also acted in films such as Con Air and A Star is Born, then said: “I’m gonna tell you something else, I am not in battle with the transgender community — that’s ridiculous. I do not blame the L’s, the B’s, the G’s or the T’s. Blame the Jews! Somebody else’s fault.”
During The Closer, Chappelle proclaimed himself “team TERF” (trans-exclusionary radical feminist) and expressed support for JK Rowling who has also been criticised for her transphobic views.
Following the release of the special, Chappelle was denounced by the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation.
