It seems as if it was only five minutes ago that we looked to comedians to say unsayable things. Today, the leading standup comic, Dave Chappelle, is increasingly being treated as if he has radioactive cooties merely for expressing widely held beliefs that are falsely being painted as outrageous and indefensible by a small fringe of loud extremists. Chappelle’s latest film was bounced from several festivals after he made a handful of people angry with his bit on transgenderism in his latest Netflix special. Now, a formerly trusted colleague has turned on him.
Patton Oswalt once famously played a rat in a movie, but he has never crept so low, nor squeaked so annoyingly, as he did in the apology he issued on Instagram for the crime of appearing in public with an old friend. Oswalt has been pals with Chappelle for 34 years, and after getting a text from him while the two were performing next door to one another on New Year’s Eve, joined him at the (only-in-Seattle) Climate Pledge Arena for a guest set and a backstage picture.
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