Dave Chappelle Says He Scolded Lauren Boebert for Posting Capitol Hill Selfie with Anti-Trans Caption: 'I Lit Her Ass Up for That'
Dave Chappelle Says He Scolded Lauren Boebert for Posting Capitol Hill Selfie with Anti-Trans Caption: 'I Lit Her Ass Up for That'
Brooke MigdonWed, April 15, 2026 at 10:52 PM UTC
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Rep. Lauren Boebert, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna and Dave Chappelle in November 2023Credit: Lauren Boebert/Instagram -
Dave Chappelle said he publicly criticized Rep. Lauren Boebert during a 2023 performance in Washington after she posted an Instagram selfie with him with a caption that disparaged transgender people
In an interview with NPR on Wednesday, April 15, Chappelle said Republicans had "weaponized" his jokes about transgender people
The 52-year-old said backlash to his comedy was primarily a "media phenomenon" that did not accurately reflect reality
Comedian Dave Chappelle said he publicly criticized Rep. Lauren Boebert during a 2023 performance in Washington after the Colorado Republican posted an Instagram photo with him that included a caption disparaging transgender people.
Chappelle had made a brief visit to Capitol Hill in November 2023 to discuss current events with members of Congress ahead of a performance at Capitol One Arena in Washington, a spokesperson said at the time. He posed for photos with lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, including Boebert and Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, Republican of Florida, for a viral selfie.
“Just three people who understand that there’s only two genders 😄,” Boebert captioned the photo, taken in the Capitol Rotunda.
The caption referenced widespread backlash to Chappelle’s 2021 Netflix special, The Closer, in which the comedian made several jokes about transgender people that many found insulting and insensitive, particularly amid a tidal wave of state legislation targeting LGBTQ rights.
In an interview that aired on the Wednesday, April 15, episode of NPR's Newsmakers podcast, Chappelle said he was angered by Boebert’s post. Republicans, he said, had “weaponized” and “politicized” his jokes in their targeting of transgender people.
“I did resent that the Republican Party ran on transgender jokes. You know, I felt like they were doing a weaponized version of what I was doing,” Chappelle told host Michelle Martin on Wednesday. “That’s not what I was doing.”
On Boebert, Chapelle said the congresswoman had asked him for a photo while he was already posing for several others.
“This is before I learned the phrase, ‘I respectfully decline,’ ” Chappelle said. “I was on Capitol Hill, and everybody ran up to take pictures with me from every congressional office, and I just take pictures with whoever asks. I didn’t ask how they vote or what their voting record is.”
“At first it was like [Congressional Black Caucus] people, and then here comes Lauren Boebert,” he said. “And she said, ‘Can I get a picture?’ and I had already taken 40 pictures, I didn’t want to say no in front of everybody.”
Chappelle said Boebert posted the photo, a selfie of herself, Chappelle and Luna, just before he went on stage that evening. “She instantly, like, weaponized it, or politicized it,” he said of how Boebert captioned the post.
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“So I got to the arena, and I lit her ass up for doing that. She should never do that to a person like me,” Chappelle said. “You do whatever it is you do, but don’t — get me out of the splash zone.”
A spokesperson for Boebert did not immediately return PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Dave Chappelle in November 2016Credit: Will Heath/NBCU Photo Bank/NBCUniversal via Getty
During Wednesday’s interview, Martin pressed Chappelle on whether he found criticism of his comedy to be valid.
“That’s a tough one for me, because so much of that was a media phenomenon — what was happening in actual life, versus how the media was reporting on my show,” Chappelle said. “And I feel like the way they were reporting on that show was rage baiting, to some degree.”
“They almost reported on it as if I was doing something other than a comedy show,” he added.
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“Reading a joke is a lot different than sitting in a room and hearing it,” Chappelle said. “And part of the sitting in the room part — part of one of the reasons comedy works — is 'cause everyone that bought a ticket, clearly, they want it to work. They want to have a good time, they want to have fun. If you’re a person that is very angry or passionate about something, and you’re afraid that you're going to be misrepresented or misconstrued, and you feel like you have to police comedy to get your point across, you should assess your point.”
The 52-year-old has consistently rejected claims from critics and some LGBTQ advocacy groups that his comedy may be harmful. In a 2021 Instagram post, Chappelle said he was open to meeting with LGBTQ Netflix employees who were critical of his special, but said he would not bend “to anyone's demands.”
“Everyone I know from that community has been nothing but loving and supportive,” Chappelle said in the five-minute video at the time. “So I don’t know what this nonsense is about.”
on People
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
