Patton Oswalt’s role as a desperate father who impersonates a beautiful woman on social media to catfish his troubled son in the new film ‘I Love My Dad‘ had gotten him enough fans who adore him. Maybe that’s why fans were agitated when they saw their favorite comedian along with a man who made transphobic comments.
When overwhelming comments of fans flooded his social media about how their “ally” has “betrayed” them, he was up to resolve the situation. Oswalt decided to issue an apology to those who felt “betrayed” while also defending his three-decade-long friendship with Chappelle.
Why Patton Oswalt Was Criticized On Social Media?
“There are some monstrous things that are done with good intentions,” he says of his character in the movie. “And I’ve been guilty of that myself, thinking I’m the center, I’m the protagonist, I’m the wronged hero, and then getting my head kicked sideways.”
One of those times came after Oswalt posted what he thought was an innocuous photo with his arm around fellow comedian Dave Chappelle on Instagram. Before he even had a chance to assess the transphobic jokes in Chappelle’s ‘The Closer’ special, he was being brutally dismantled on social media.
When the comments overflowed with fans disappointed that someone they thought was an “ally” could support Chappelle, he decided to issue an apology to those who felt “betrayed.” However, while also defending his three-decade-long friendship with Chappelle.
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Oswalt And His Friendship With Dave Chapelle
Oswalt after being the center of criticism for sharing a photo of him alongside Dave Chapelle, apologized to fans who felt “betrayed”. “It was a very freeing experience,” he tells, “because it showed that no matter how much nuance and thought you put into something, people will just be pissed at it anyway. So you may as well try to do the best you can and apologize when you can.”
While Oswalt wishes Chappelle was more “open-minded on trans issues,” he said he “can’t deny his genius on just about every other fucking issue.” He also noted that his conversation with Chapelle happened before Chapelle’s SNL monologue.
With that in mind, he said he has to “take the good with the bad”. He added, “He’s still my friend, I’m still a fan, I don’t agree with his stance on trans people, and I did go and watch The Closer and some of the trans jokes really did bother me. But then some of the other jokes were fucking brilliant.”
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