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Wil Wheaton slams Dave Chappelle's 'hurtful' anti-trans jokes in viral letter

Wil Wheaton said he had mocked and dehumanized gay people in the past and which was wrong in every sense

Dave Chappelle's Netflix special 'The Closer' surely had a lasting impact which wasn't necessarily positive. Blogger Wil Wheaton jotted down his reaction to the stand-up special in a powerful letter that he shared on Facebook. In his letter, he talked about how dangerous Dave's transphobic jokes while recounting his own homophobic past.

The controversy triggered by Chappelle's Netflix special was apparent during a visit to his former high school, which wasn't as triumphant as he would have imagined. Paying a surprising visit to his alma matter, Duke Ellington School of the Arts in Washington, he openly said to the students, "I'm better than all of you." 

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Chappelle seemed hardly bothered about the controversy triggered by the special. At the screening of his documentary, he told the audience that he 'loved' being 'cancelled'. It seems like Dave's 'better than thou' attitude is what led actor and blogger Wil Wheaton voicing his opinion against the comedian. 

In his letter shared on Facaebook, Wil explained how easily young minds can be shaped and influenced. He said entertainment is one of the biggest contributors of this influence. 

In his heartfelt letter, he talked about how he shared a joke with some men that he played hockey with and which no one but he found funny. 

Wheaton started by saying, "One night, I'd played a couple hours of pickup with some really great dudes. They were friendly, they were funny, they enjoyed the game, they treated me like I was part of their team. They welcomed me. After we were finished, we were all in the locker room getting changed into our regular clothes." He continued: "So I'm talking with these guys, and we're all just laughing and having a good time. We're doing that sports thing where you talk about the great plays, and feel like you're part of something special. And then, without even realizing what I was doing, that awful word came out of my mouth." 

He shared how without thinking, he said the 'F' word. As the room fell completely silent, and there were no laughs, he realized that he was standing in a room full of gay men.

Speaking about how he feels presently, he said that young Wil was mocking and dehumanizing gay people which was wrong in every sense.

In his letter he said, "I'm mortified and embarrassed and so regretful that I said such a hurtful thing. I said it out of ignorance, but I still said it, and I said it because I believed these men, who were so cool and kind and just like all the other men I played with."

Under the letter, tons of readers and followers shared their opinions, some in favor of and some against. 

A user explaining her experience of coming out said, "Lesbian here. People really don’t understand how much these dehumanising slurs and jokes can hurt. I think your story really puts into perspective how normalising these insults leads children into doing these hurtful, dehumanising things without understanding the context or culture behind it. I play online games, and occasionally you hear literal children saying F, N, or T slurs - and it’s painful for me as an LGBT person. Not so much because of the words themselves but because of what they represent: children being taught to normalise and repeat bigotry. And it needs to stop. It just really needs to stop." 

Another user added his two cents saying, "Thank you so much for being such a well-spoken, thoughtful and caring LGBTQ advocate." 

This letter went viral on Twitter and recieved a comment saying, "Netflix needs to rethink"