There has been some confusion surrounding a selfie of Representative Lauren Boebert and comedian Dave Chappelle.
The stand-up was visiting the Capitol when Boebert and Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna passed by him in the Rotunda, stopping briefly for a chat.
A video posted to X, formerly Twitter, shows that as they began to say farewell, Boebert asked Chappelle for a selfie.
“May we get a selfie with you?” Boebert can be heard asking. “I know you’re trying to leave.”
Joe Raedle/Kristy Sparrow/Getty Images North America
She then posted the image to her X account with the caption, “just three people who understand there’s only two genders,” but the post has since been deleted.
Boebert was referring to Chappelle’s ongoing jokes about transgender people in his live shows that some people have labeled transphobic. The lawmaker has also become known for her staunch opposition to LGBTQ+ issues.
Chappelle then spoke about the interaction with Boebert at his Washington D.C. show, reportedly claiming she “tricked him” and referencing her infamous night watching the Beetlejuice musical theater show.
In September, Boebert apologized after footage emerged of her groping a male companion and of him grabbing her breast during a performance of the show at a Colorado theater. She was asked to leave after repeatedly vaping and taking photographs.
Democratic advocacy group, Call to Activism, tweeted that Chappelle claimed a number of lawmakers had asked him for photos during his visit to the Capitol.
“What I didn’t expect was to see Lauren Boebert,” Call to Activism wrote on its X account, claiming Chappelle said this during his stand-up act.
He reportedly also said: “She tricked me,” before adding Boebert was “rubbing her mitts together,” in anticipation of getting a photo with him. Chappelle reportedly said he didn’t feel like he could say no and that in a politically divided time it “was a human moment” to oblige her request.
But then the comedian reportedly claimed he was “blindsided” by her tweet saying he “understood that there were two genders.”
“It’s a shame she tricked me,” Chappelle is reported to have said. “I had two tickets to Beetlejuice and I was going to give her one!”
Newsweek contacted Chappelle and Boebert’s representatives by email for comment.
Chappelle told media outside the Capitol that he grew up in Washington, D.C.
“A lot of the people I grew up with work on the Hill, so I hang out here sometimes when I’m in D.C., to catch up with old friends,” he told a reporter in a video posted to X.
In October 2021, around 100 Netflix employees organized a walkout to protest Chappelle’s special on the streamer, The Closer, which received criticism for his jokes about transgender women.
LGBTQ media advocacy group, GLAAD, slammed the comedian saying in a statement at the time that: “Chappelle’s brand has become synonymous with ridiculing trans people and other marginalized communities.”
Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos initially defended Chappelle, saying: “We have a strong belief that content on screen doesn’t directly translate to real-world harm.”
But he later told The Hollywood Reporter he “screwed up” in regard to internal communications within the company about the special.
Chappelle doubled down on his comments on trans people in subsequent live shows and on social media.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.