Suzy Izzard has met ‘talented’ Dave Chappelle – here’s what she thought of him
"I don't want to get into a scrap," said Suzy when asked about Dave
Suzy Izzard has revealed that she’s met “very talented” fellow comedy star Dave Chappelle and thought he was “great”.
Chappelle generated headlines this month with Netflix specials in which he makes a series of inflammatory remarks about trans people.
Long-time TV star and aspiring politician Izzard is a trans woman who is outspoken on LGBTQ issues.
“I’m not getting into scrap” – Suzy Izzard when asked about Dave Chapelle
In a new interview with the New York Times, Izzard was asked if she felt sympathy for Chapelle.
“I don’t want to get into a scrap,” the 61-year-old replied, before seeming to imply she and Chapelle were able to put his views aside and connect on a human level.
“I think Dave is very talented,” she furthermore continued. “And I’ve met him, and when we met, it was great.”
The star then pointed to the prevalence of jokes on the comedy circuit about gay men and lesbian women 20 years ago.
“Before gay marriage, there was a lot of, ‘Oh, my God!’ We’ve come to a tipping point. When I came out in ’85, how many discussions, how many jokes were there about being trans? None. Now the discussions are happening. It’s interesting why some people just say ‘trans,’ not ‘L.G.B.T.Q.+.’ It is quite a wide area, and they’re just concentrating on one part of it. It’s sad that people feel they want to attack it. Why not attack power groups rather than vulnerable people?”
Dave Chappelle: The Dreamer dropped on Netflix on 31 December. In it, the 50-year-old references his 2021 Netflix special The Closer, which also received backlash for jokes about trans people.
“I’m not f***ing with those people anymore – it wasn’t worth the trouble,” Chappelle says of trans people in The Dreamer. Instead, he jokes he’ll be “doing all handicapped jokes,” adding that community is “not as organised as the gays. And I love punching down.”
In her NYT interview, Izzard also briefly addresses Harry Potter author JK Rowling, who is known for her gender-critical views.
“I’ve already stood up for Rowling, so I’m not going there,” she said. “I mean, we can get into a four-to-40-hour discussion on this, which I’m not wild about. I do believe that we’ll get through.”
Izzard lost her bid be a Labour MP for Brighton last December. She intends to keep running until successful.