Comedian Jerrod Carmichael’s new HBO show may be lauded for making folks necessarily uncomfortable, but there was nothing necessary about his latest quip about allegedly having a relationship reminiscent of slavery with his white boyfriend.
The tasteless “joke” was revealed on the latest episode of the “Jerrod Carmichael Reality Show.” During one of his stand-up routines, Carmichael explained:
“My boyfriend, he makes me smarter, he makes me read. I have so many books. Realistically I’m not gonna read all those books. He knows that. But the fact that I bought them says I love you. They’re little monuments around my apartment just like ‘look at this book from Amazon that I’m never gonna read.’ I sometimes joke to him that our relationship is like that of a slave and a master’s son ... who, like, teaches me how to read by candlelight.”
When the crowd let out a mixed reaction, he continued: “Yeah, he groans too ‘cause he’s a good person. He doesn’t like that f***ing joke. I like that joke. That’s my burden, I think that s**t’s hilarious.”
In the episode, Carmichael also discussed coming out as gay when he was around 30 years old, his seemingly insatiable sexual appetite, how he “loves choking” and the fact that he likes putting toes in his mouth.
One user on X spoke for everyone when they said “everything i know about Jerrod Carmichael has been against my will.”
This isn’t the first time the star has used his show to embarass himself. In the debut episode, Carmichael immediately opened up about his romantic life by discussing an awkward crush he had on Tyler, The Creator. “I fell in love with my best friend. One out of 10, don’t recommend,” Carmichael said.
“I knew I had to tell him. Things started getting kind of weird between us. I had these feelings … So I texted him. I remember saying, ‘I know you didn’t ask for this, but somewhere down the line I developed feelings for you, and I don’t know what to do with that.’ Then I immediately turned my phone off and went into therapy.”
Tyler rebuffed his advances, with Carmichael airing the exchange for all the world to see. It appears that the comedian has some sort of humiliation kink, which is fine. All we ask is that he keep Black folks out of it.