Flame Monroe defends Dave Chappelle’s comedy special and chats about her podcast ‘Laugh & Learn’

October 14, 2021

Comedian Flame Monroe joined “Podsauce” to talk about her podcast “Laugh and Learn,” from Charlamagne Tha God’s Black Effect Network and iHeartMedia, which she hosts with Nick Smith. Every week, they discuss the latest headlines in politics and pop culture. The hilarious duo are aiming to bring us content that will challenge, enlighten, and educate in an engaging format. And as Monroe puts it, some things may not be what you want to hear, but with a little bit of laughter, we can learn about it together.

The big story, though, is Monroe’s recent interview with TMZ defending Dave Chappelle’s Netflix comedy special The Closer. Chappelle has been criticized since its release for his jokes about gay and transgender people, as well as declaring himself “Team TERF” (TERF stands for Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminist) in a joke about JK Rowling. Monroe, a Black transgender woman herself, has no problem with his comedy and explains her stance further in this interview with Dax and Alesha.

She talks about identifying as a comedian first and foremost, everything else is secondary to that: she does not want to be the spokesperson for anyone other than herself. She opens up about her experience with that issue on They Here, where she was told that she could become the spokesperson for the Black trans community.

Monroe talks about how his comedy was taken out of context: in the special, Chappelle opened up about his recently deceased friend Daphne, a transgender woman who committed suicide. Monroe explains that the accusations of Chappelle being transphobic are out of line, saying that if he were truly transphobic, he would not have been referring to Daphne with her proper pronouns nor would he have remained friends with her in the first place. The conversation turns to acceptance within all communities, as Monroe talks about the factions with the LGBTQ+ community.

As for her favorite podcasts right now, Monroe suggests “The Brilliant Idiots” with Charlamagne Tha God and Andrew Schulz, and she frequently listens to the teachings of Elijah Muhammad.