Vir Das acknowledges that his ‘uninformed’ joke hurt trans community: ‘I messed up’

Comedian Vir Das took responsibility for a joke that upset members of the trans community. “I got that joke wrong. Plain and simple. No buts,” he said in his statement.

Comedian Vir Das made jokes about the trans community and pronouns used by them in the latest episode of #TenOnTen that was uploaded on his YouTube channel. He has now spoken about it after receiving a message from a disappointed fan.

Vir Das issued a statement after getting backlash for a joke on the trans community.

Taking to Instagram, Vir shared a statement, taking responsibility for the contentious joke. He also posted screenshots of his conversation with a fan, who wrote to him, telling him that he chose to ‘punch down’ by making jokes on the trans community.

“I did a joke on the new ten on ten episode that my friends in the Trans community felt hurt by. I see why. My intent in the moment, was to say Trans people have courage the Govt never ever could and it was set up wrong and uninformed. I messed up. It had the opposite effect and trivialized your struggle. Articulating my intent effectively is my responsibility, not yours. I got that joke wrong. Plain and simple. No buts,” Vir wrote.

He said that his audience ‘understands comedy’ and he always listens when they reach out to him. “I’d like to be an artist who unabashedly deliberately uncomfortably pushes the line every single day, and never stops acknowledging his audience, always using their voice as his guide. A conversation, where the focus is them, always. Amaan, thank you for your message. Know that I see you, I heard you, your struggle, I’m in this conversation, I’ll always listen and you will always inform my comedy,” he wrote.

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To the fan who reached out to him, Vir said that his intent was not to upset anyone. “Amaan, I hope it's alright that I am replying to you. You’re correct about the joke, and I’m so sorry it made you feel hurt. I’m going to put a statement out, but waiting till everyone calms down so they know it's thought out and genuine. If you know my work, you know the intent is never ever to hurt. Give it a minute and I will definitely respond,” he wrote.