On Thursday night, Bill Burr was on Conan where he talked about Caitlyn Jenner. The comedian expressed how much he loves the Olympic athlete, even bringing up his 1981 appearance on the motorcycle television show CHiPs. However some people found the comedian’s take on Caitlyn to be quite offensive.
Burr expressed that he was a bit perplexed on how one of his sports heroes transitioned so quickly.
“I miss that guy. I miss him already. He should have told us, he should have given us a chance to say goodbye. I watched him on the Olympics, I watched him on CHiPs, I watched him on that horrible show my wife watches where he walks around in the background, and nobody listened to him. So sad. And then out of nowhere, he’s just gone. Then you couldn’t react. On any level you couldn’t react with, ‘What the F?’ On any level or you’re automatically homophobic.”
Burr cited that even when a regular guy shaves his beard off, you’re allowed some time to understand the lack of facial hair on their chin. He believes that because this is the first prolific celebrity to go this route publicly, that you should have some time to process everything.
It definitely doesn’t seem that Burr’s perspective is coming out of hate or homophobia, but rather shock. He even gave support despite using the incorrect pronoun, “God bless him. I’m cool with that.”
However some people found Bill Burr’s comedy to be very offensive.
TRANSGENDER WOMEN FACE MURDER FOR THE IDEAS BILL BURR JOKED ABOUT. MURDER. IT’S NOT FUNNY.
— Prob Not On Hiatus (@KivaBay) August 21, 2015
Bill Burr is a piece of transphobic shit. This entire exchange is disgusting. http://t.co/JQvvWTLDAM
— Jillian Gutowitz (@jillboard) August 21, 2015
@gabydunn yeah he had a responsibility to shut that shit down and he laughed along & let the audience play along too. Bye Conan
— Jillian Gutowitz (@jillboard) August 21, 2015
This entire exchange is disgusting. Shame on you, @ConanOBrien. http://t.co/F2g793AmnW
— AJM (@AbigMESS) August 21, 2015
so… bill burr is kinda gross
— Matthew Barry (@mattisbar) August 21, 2015
.@billburr is so hateful. I feel bad for him. I hope he finds whatever his life is missing.
— pinball wizard (@tophatstevie) August 21, 2015
@billburr I hope you realise how much of a jerk you were being about Caitlyn Jenner. you’re a transphobic a hole ok. you’re not funny
— breanna perkins (@breisapenguin) August 21, 2015
There were also people who supported Mr. Burr.
Are people actually bent out of shape over what @billburr said on Conan? What he said was funny, we are allowed to laugh.
— Matt (@mavanco) August 21, 2015
This guy on #Conan is freaking awesome. Just saying whatever he wants regardless of what’s PC, but committing to nothing. Love! #billburr
— Allison (@allirae2) August 21, 2015
I know it’s the Internet, but I’m finding it hard to understand what Bill Burr said here that has people so upset. http://t.co/sKh4rQ117w
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) August 21, 2015
.@tbs_tv @teamcoco So honest, it’s funny. @BillBurr, you are raw man! #Conan https://t.co/bqua7ldgcS pic.twitter.com/c38MkoLDqs
— Judith Davis (@Writerjudy) August 21, 2015
One person supported Burr so much that they believe he should be presidential candidate Deez Nuts‘ vice president. Quite the honor.
God, I really hope @billburr runs for VP alongside Deez Nuts in 2016. Killed it on Conan as always, sir!
— Syed Sulaiman Hasany (@PerfectScore) August 21, 2015
On an earlier episode of Burr’s Monday Morning podcast, he discussed Caitlyn’s Vanity Fair cover with his wife Nia. In the podcast from months ago, he was actually quite prophetic about the outrage:
“There’s going to be a lot of people that get in trouble as they’re trying to fucking process this for the first time. I think you want to allow people to have that first dumb thing that comes out of their mouth, not understanding, but everybody is going to jump on them.”
“You wanted to be Bruce Jenner,” gushed Burr. “I wanted my hair parted down the middle and feathered to the side.” Burr expressed his admiration, but is also brutally honest, “Bruce won the gold medal, Caitlyn still has to prove herself, she hasn’t won shit yet.”
I understand the immense mental and physical challenges that transgender individuals face on a daily basis. I understand that 17 transgender individuals have been killed this year, including Tamara Dominguez who was brutally murdered by being run over multiple times in a church parking lot in Missouri. With that being said, Bill Burr is not inciting violence towards transgender people. He’s a comedian attempting to make comedy out of a very explosive topic, which is automatically going to offend people who are easily offended. So what do you think? Did comedian Bill Burr go too far or is this another case of the outrage factory at work again?
[Uproxx]