Dax Shepard who is well known for his work on comedies like Punk’d and Idiocracy got into a heated discussion about transgender and gender-nonconforming rights in a recent interview with Queer Eye beauty expert Jonathan Van Ness who identifies as nonbinary, which left Van Ness in tears has come under fire.
What Happened in the JVN & Dax Shepard Interview?
Jonathan Van Ness and Dax Shepard’s Armchair Expert podcast episode was released on Monday, September 25, 2023. While Van Ness was invited as a celebrity to discuss his new podcast episodes, Armchair Expert does contain a series of expert interviews that focus on particular topics.
JVN raised some solid points that had been thoroughly investigated during the episode. The topic of whether The New York Times is seen as a left-leaning/progressive news organization swiftly emerged.
Shepard insisted that it is, but Van Ness politely countered that a journal shouldn’t be viewed as progressive if it regularly publishes “anti-trans” information. Shepard responded:
“Some people are very uncomfortable about teenagers transitioning. They’re challenging that. How do we know that the person’s not gonna change their mind?”
Shepard thought he was about to get into another heated argument with the interviewee and Van Ness was taken aback to hear the actor bringing up points and talking points that have been vigorously promoted by conservative commentators in recent years.
Van Ness replied, “I feel like I’m talking to my dad.” Shepard said about the topic of trans inclusion in sports:
“This whole notion that to be critical or to question something, you’re seeing the whiplash reaction to that, To even question it makes you an enemy. I don’t think that’s the way forward.”
Van Ness argued:
“When you have an outsized reaction to something, there’s a good chance that you’re being exposed to misinformation and disinformation. And a lot of the rhetoric around anti-trans inclusion and just the anti-trans backlash does have a lot of misinformation and disinformation in it.”
A fan shared an opinion on Dax Shepard’s comment in a tweet which is provided below:
Hearing what Dax Shepard said before JVN’s ridiculous comment about “fictitious fairness in women’s sports” makes me like him so much more. pic.twitter.com/hA09ThcMu3
— Jennifer Leigh (@The_Feminist_TM) September 28, 2023
The host went on to say that he thought it was a fair question to consider whether it was fair for cisgender women to compete against someone who had previously been categorized as a male athlete.
Van Ness then discussed how difficult it was for them to “watch Dax Shepard parrot a lot of the same things” in this interview. Shepard had been the target of a targeted onslaught toward queer people over the previous few years.
Van Ness stated that although they didn’t view Shepard as an enemy it was disappointing to see the actor think he’s really fighting for something by making these anti-trans statements. The Queer Eye star said:
“I’m a nonbinary f*cking trans person. When I talk to my dad or people who say similar things, it’s hard to be cool through that. I’m not calling you a transphobe. You cannot be transphobic and still have thoughts that espouse trans misogyny and espouse transphobic ideologies or beliefs… Just like how I have to challenge biases about white privilege and make sure I’m not speaking over someone who is a person of color or a Black person if we’re talking about racism or police brutality.”
Shepard later expressed regret for engaging in such a contentious argument with Van Ness, stating that he didn’t intend for anything like that to occur. Van Ness began to cry at this point and expressed how tired they were of fighting for trans children who just wanted to play sports.
Van Ness discussed the very good effects that sports had on their lives and how terrible it is to observe trans children being denied access to sports simply because they are trans people.
Van Ness further asserted that most athletes simply play sports to stay active, socialize, acquire life skills and experience a sense of belonging rather than to participate in professional leagues or the Olympics. Van Ness concluded:
“I could just cry because I’m so tired of having to fight for little kids because they just want to be included. I wish that people were as passionate about little kids being able to be included or grow up as they were about fictitious women’s fairness in sports.”
He spends more than 25 minutes debating trans rights with Jonathan, who is nonbinary and uses any pronouns, leaving JVN exhausted and in tears.
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What Did Van Ness Say About the Conversation With Shepard?
One day after their appearance on Armchair Expert on Tuesday, September 26, Van Ness published a video on Instagram in which they elaborated on the points they had made during their recent conversation with Shepard.
The Queer Eye said in a video:
“Let’s talk about transphobia in sports, There are so many conversations about trans inclusion in sports. We have state houses all over the United States that are passing bills to make sure that no trans kids are allowed to play sports at any level in their state… and I just think that this is a huge travesty.”
You can check out the video shared by Van Ness’ below:
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