5 celebrities facing backlash over transphobic or homophobic comments

While some celebrities like Carpenter often use their platforms to uplift the LGBTQ+ community, not all stars are as inclusive, to say the least. Here are five notable celebrities who sparked backlash for making derogatory remarks or engaging in hate speech.

1. Paris Hilton

Hilton faced major backlash and issued an apology on the same day, expressing remorse for causing pain to her gay friends and fans, and their families.

Hilton’s publicist confirmed the authenticity of the recording with CNN, and claimed that Hilton’s comments were meant to express concerns about unprotected sex, rather than being homophobic.

2. DaBaby

During his performance at Rolling Loud Miami in July 2021, DaBaby made homophobic and misogynistic comments, targeting individuals with HIV and Aids. He also made derogatory remarks about gay men.

Urging fans in the audience to raise their cell phone lights if they didn’t have HIV, Aids, or any sexually transmitted diseases, he told the crowd, “Fellas, if you ain’t sucking d*** in the park lot, put your cell phone lighter up.” He also made offensive comments about women, adding, “Ladies, if your p**** smells like water, put your cell phone lighter up.”

“I wouldn’t go on no rant. It’s called a call-to-action. That’s what that’s called, ‘cause I’m a live performer,” DaBaby defended in an Instagram Story. “I’m the best live performer. I’m a live show killer.”

But he later made an apology on social media, writing, “I apologise for my misinformed comments about HIV/Aids and I know education on this is important.”

3. Donald Trump

In a video posted on social media last year, Trump vowed to punish doctors who provide gender-affirming care to minors, if re-elected. He equated such care to “child abuse” and “child sexual mutilation”.

In the same video, he also proposed prohibiting federal agencies from promoting the concept of sex and gender transition, and pushed federal law to recognise only two genders. These actions generated significant controversy, with advocates for transgender rights condemning the proposed policies as discriminatory and harmful.

4. J.K. Rowling

In 2018, she reportedly liked a post on X (formerly Twitter) that referred to trans women as “men in dresses” and claimed that trans rights were “misogyny”. She later apologised and claimed that it was an accident.

In a post on X in 2020, Rowling continued to stoke controversy by picking at the trans-inclusive phrase “people who menstruate”, implying that it erases the word “women”. She later posted a thread suggesting that transgender activists were erasing the concept of biological sex.

In May 2024, Rowling wrote several posts on X calling a trans female football manager a “cross-dressing straight man” and one of those “straight, white, middle-aged blokes”.

5. Dave Chappelle

In his 2021 special The Closer, he called himself “transphobic comedian, Dave Chappelle” and joked about DaBaby’s incident at Rolling Loud, making further derogatory comments about the LGBTQ+ community. He also mocked the United States for supposedly being a place where “you can shoot and kill a n****, but you better not hurt a gay person’s feelings”, in spite of the challenges and discrimination that gay Americans face on a regular basis.

Chappelle also came under fire for criticising the LGBTQ+ community for “cancel[ling]” J.K. Rowling and calling her a “terf” (trans-exclusionary radical feminist). “I didn’t even know what the f*** that was, but I know that trans people make up words to win arguments,” he claimed.