Jerrod Carmichael Explains Controversial 'Slave Play' Joke With White Boyfriend: 'Don't Misconstrue What I Said'
Emmy Award-winning comedian Jerrod Carmichael was slammed on social media following a race play joke he made that didn't quite resonate with viewers.
The controversial bit, which was shown on his Max seres, 'Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show,' began when Carmichael explained that he buys books from Amazon that his boyfriend, who he says reads often, may find impressive, but he knows he'll never actually read them.
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"I sometimes joke to him that like, our relationship is like that, a slave and the master's son who teaches me how to read by candle light," Carmichael said, to which the audience groaned with disapproval.
"Yeah he groans too! Because he's a good person. He doesn't like that f**** joke — I like that joke. That's my burden. I think that s**** hilarious," he exclaims. "Yes sir? Marie Antoinette, sir...I don't know what that is," he says, imitating a slave.
The 37-year-old visited The Breakfast Club on Tuesday (where Charlamagne Tha God named him "Donkey of the Day" the previous week), where he clarified the "race play" joke, denying that the joke had any sexual undertones.
"You played a clip of my standup, but it started at the punchline and it completely erased the set-up of it... and I really don't like that. It made it seem like I'm into some type of race, sexual, slavery role play with my boyfriend, which is untrue, it's so false," he explained to host Charlamagne. He went on to say how he expected that behavior from TMZ, but not the radio co-host, whom he called his friend.
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The entertainer detailed that the joke stemmed from his boyfriend reading "so much" that it makes him feel "insecure" about his level of reading.
"I'm talking about my own personal insecurity. I'm an educated person. I'm usually the smartest person in the room. He reads so much, it makes me feel like, 'Oh, do I even know how to read?' " Carmichael told the host.
"It don't work when you Black and you're the slave, and the white person is the slave master," Charlamagne, 45, shot back, adding that his hometown of North Carolina is the home of the first anti-literacy laws.
Although he did not apologize for the joke, he did apologize to Dave Chapelle.
"I deeply regret ever saying anything about Dave Chapelle to the press, I want to say that I'm sorry for that," he said. He claimed he's a huge fan of his work and respects his art.
Carmichael, real name Rothanial Jerrod, is a stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and filmmaker. He's released three stand up shows and co-created and starred in the semi autobiographical NBC sitcom 'The Carmichael Show.' The network cancelled the show after three seasons.
