Patton Oswalt Forced To Write An Essay On Why He Still Hangs Out With Dave Chappelle
The internet is ridiculous. Comedian Patton Oswalt went on his Instagram this past weekend to make a seemingly harmless post about performing his last stand-up show of the year in Seattle.
During his show, he got a text from fellow comedian Dave Chappelle, who was apparently doing a show right next door. Chappelle invited Oswalt to come over and do a drop-in set.
Oswalt shared a photo of himself and Chappelle, writing…
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.
Nothing wrong with that post, right? Wrong. These days, you can’t even associate with someone you disagree with. We live in a world where we must all think exactly the same, and if you interact with the “other side” then you must be the other side.
People slammed Oswalt for praising Chappelle. As you all know, Chappelle has been taking a lot of heat for his admittedly controversial comments on transgender people.
He made remarks such as ‘gender is a fact’ and declares himself ‘team TERF,’ a term standing for trans-exclusionary radical feminist, in a lengthy defense of ‘Harry Potter’ author J.K. Rowling.
People have been trying to cancel him for his comments, but so far, it hasn’t been working.
Anyway, apparently Oswalt received so much hate for his post, he had to circle back around and address it. He wrote a lengthy post on his social media accounts, explaining that while he disagrees with Chappelle on some issues, he still supports and loves him as a friend.
I saw a friend I hadn’t seen in a long time this New Year’s Eve. We’ve known each other since we’re teens. He’s a fellow comedian, the funniest I’ve ever met. I wanted to post a pic & an IG story about it — so I did. The friend is Dave Chappelle. Thirty four YEARS we’ve been friends.
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.
It’s pretty crazy that he even has to write this. People are so damn righteous on the internet. You’re telling me they agree with every single person they interact with? Their grandma ain’t saying some racist sh*t sometimes? They still eat her cookies though, right? Yeah, they do.
You can’t force someone into thinking the same way you do. It only turns them off. It’s also okay to disagree on some things. It doesn’t mean you can’t be friends with them.
