Comedian and actor Patton Oswalt groveled to a mob after he came under fire for posting a photo Saturday with colleague and long-time friend Dave Chappelle.
When the much-more successful Chappelle realized Oswalt had booked a gig nearby his arena show in Seattle, he invited Oswalt to drop by for a guest appearance. Oswalt agreed and the two snapped a photo together that Oswalt later posted on Instagram with a caption praising Chappelle’s comedic brilliance.
“Finished me set at @mccawhall and got a text from @davechappelle,” he wrote. “Come over to the arena he’s performing in next door and do a guest set. Why not? I waved good-bye to this hell-year with a genius I started comedy with 34 years ago. He works an arena like he’s talking to one person and charming their skin off. Anyway, I ended the year with a real friend and a deep laugh. Can’t ask for much more.”
But Oswalt’s gratitude for his fellow comedian’s friendship proved to be short-lived. The next day, after some of his followers accused him of being anti-trans for posing with Chappelle, he apologized, saying, “I’m sorry, truly sorry, that I didn’t consider the hurt this would cause. Or the DEPTH of that hurt. Ugh. So easy to think someone ELSE needs growth and miss the need in yourself. Gonna keep trying.”
While he still affirmed their friendship, he also made a point to distance himself from Chappelle’s views — implying that he agrees that the jokes the comedy legend told in his Netflix special “The Closer” were transphobic and harmful to the transgender community:
But we also 100% disagree about transgender rights & representation. I support trans peoples’ rights — ANYONE’S rights — to live safely in the world as their fullest selves. For all the things he’s helped ME evolve on, I’ll always disagree with where he stands NOW on transgender issues. But I also don’t believe a seeker like him is done evolving, learning. You know someone that long, see the struggles and changes, it’s impossible to cut them off. Impossible not to be hopeful and open and cheer them on … I’m an LGBTQ ally. I’m a loyal friend. There’s friction in those traits that I need to reconcile myself, and not let cause feels of betrayal in ANYONE else.
Oswalt has arguably made more headlines for his political rants on Twitter than his comedy routines in recent years. As The Daily Wire reported, he has frequently sounded off on former President Donald Trump and his supporters and mocked pro-life centers.
In 2019, he joined an online mob himself, attacking the students from Covington Catholic over erroneous reports that they ridiculed an elderly Native American man during a D.C. field trip. When it was revealed that the reports were incorrect, Oswalt deleted a thread he retweeted that revealed personal information about teen Nicholas Sandmann.
He also posted a photo of Sandmann alongside the comment, “THIS leering, privileged little sh**” and called the Covington students a “horde of bland, frightened, forgettable kids who’ll grow up to be bland, frightened, forgotten adult wastes.”
He has never apologized for these posts.