The consequences of comedian Lil Duval’s transphobic comments during an interview on The Breakfast Club are still being felt, mostly by host Charlamagne Tha God. There have been calls to boycott the syndicated radio show, and the hip-hop media personality has had his speaking engagements interrupted. Much of the blame for the traumatizing segment, in which Duval “joked” that a trans woman would be “dying” if they didn’t disclose that they were trans before he had sex with them, has been placed upon Charlamagne’s shoulders.
Rolling Stone published a story about Janet Mock’s criticism of the incident, but when they attributed the coarse remarks directly to Charlamagne in a recent headline, he has now reportedly filed a legal letter accusing the publication of defamation.
While he laughed at Duval’s joke and noted, “that’s a hate crime” before continuing to joke with his good friend, he didn’t specifically make the remarks. Not sure if the families of the 17 trans women of color killed this year as a result of the exact culture that Duval, Charlamagne and his Breakfast Club cohost DJ Envy helped sustain care to differentiate.
Rolling Stone has since changed the headline, and posted another story entitled Charlamagne The God Denounces Violence Against Transgender People, but Charlamagne apparently hasn’t been placated yet, as he’s reportedly demanding a formal apology, retraction of the article, and money for damage to his reputation. Come on Rolling Stone, set his reputation straight: Charlamagne isn’t a homicidally transphobic shock jock who seeks controversy by trade, he’s merely a transphobic shock jock who seeks controversy by trade.
