Comedian Jerrod Carmichael Sees Backlash Over Race-Based Slave Play Joke

Comic Jerrod Carmichael‘s testing of modern comedy audiences’ ability to grasp idiosyncratic race-based humor hit the skids quickly, as many online criticized a gag he made on his new HBO series.

Carmichael, 37, dipped his toes into the concept of “slave play” as a sexual kink during a live stand-up moment on HBO’s Jerrod Carmichael’s Reality Show that dropped this week. In a moment on the show, the writer, director and comedy powerhouse spoke about his relationship with his white boyfriend.

“My boyfriend, he makes me smarter, he makes me read,” the comedian says. “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.'”

He then says, “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.”

In the episode, the joke lands with a bit of a thud and in the moment, the audience throws some shade, groaning and hissing. Despite this, Carmichael does not stop.

“Yeah, he groans too ’cause he’s a good person,” he says. “He doesn’t like that fucking joke. I like that joke. That’s my burden, I think that shit’s hilarious!’

After Sunday’s premiere, the clip quickly went viral across the web and social platforms, with several users criticizing the controversial idea of race-based sexual slave play. 

“The fact that he has a platform to spew this mess makes him a danger to the Black Queer community,” one audience member wrote on X, formerly Twitter.

“Jerrod Carmichael is a self hating narcissist,” another wrote.

A previous version of this story incorrectly stated that Carmichael made his Instagram account private.