Laverne Cox took to Twitter to condemn stand-up comedian Lil Duval for making transphobic and violent comments while a guest on radio show “Breakfast Club.”
Host DJ Envy asked Duval how he would feel if he discovered he was sleeping with a transgender woman.
“This might sound messed up and I don’t care. She dying,” Duval responds.
Host Charlamagne Tha God told Duval he couldn’t kill transgender women and Duval replied, “I didn’t say I was gonna kill transgenders. I said, if one did that to me, and they didn’t tell me, I’mma be so mad I’d probably kill them.”
When the hosts urge him to be “politically correct” Duval says that as a comedian he doesn’t have to be.
“That’s the good thing I like about being me,” Duval says. “I can say what I want and do what I want and people understand where I’m coming from. They understand I’m not coming from a place of malice. They know I’m just speaking my mind.”
Cox responded to Duval’s comments by explaining how detrimental they are to the transgender community.
After taking several deep breaths I just got teary thinking about all my sisters experiencing violence, beaten, raped, murdered and some https://t.co/QyNXp11ysL
— Laverne Cox (@Lavernecox) July 30, 2017
I think what’s also so upsetting for me is @janetmock was on that show last week with so much love brilliance and trans 101 education and
— Laverne Cox (@Lavernecox) July 30, 2017
A week later this happens. #translivesmatter
— Laverne Cox (@Lavernecox) July 30, 2017
Some folks think it’s ok to joke about wanting to kill us. We have free speech but that speech has consequences and trans folks are
— Laverne Cox (@Lavernecox) July 30, 2017
Experiencing the negative consequences with our lives. It hurts my spirit cause this isn’t funny. Our lives matter. Trans murder isn’t a
— Laverne Cox (@Lavernecox) July 30, 2017
Joke. #Translivesmatter
— Laverne Cox (@Lavernecox) July 30, 2017
Activist April Reign, who started the #OscarsSoWhite in 2016, started the hashtag #BreakfastClubBoycott after the hosts didn’t reprimand Duval’s statements and laughed along.
A few days before Duval’s interview, Janet Mock was a guest on the show to discuss her book “Surpassing Certainty: What My Twenties Taught Me.”
Duval’s comments start at the 6:28 mark.