Musical satirist Randy Rainbow has been slammed on social media after users uncovered a number of racist and transphobic tweets dating back to 2010.
Rainbow, 39, has gained attention in recent years for his showtune parodies aimed at Donald Trump, his family, members of the Trump administration. He has garnered millions of views on YouTube and social media, as well as headlines and TV interviews in the process.
But Twitter users have recently been sharing tweets from the gay comedian that include bigoted language and racist stereotypes, as well as multiple uses of the transphobic slur “tranny,” LGBTQ Nation reports.
Many of the tweets, which were sent between 2010 and 2016, have since been deleted, but screenshots are circulating showing Rainbow using racist stereotypes to make fun of Black and Latinx people, mocking the trans community, and tweeting jokes making light of sexual assault.
In tweets shared by user @spookperson, Rainbow uses the word “tranny” multiple times.
“That awkward moment when you yell ‘What up tranny?!’ to Leah Remini as she passes you on the street and it turns out to be an actual tranny,” he wrote in 2011.
A tweet from 2010 reads: “‘Nothin’ sadder than a tranny in sensible shoes.’ -Mark Twain.”
Rainbow also tweeted a number of racist attempts at humor, including one where he complained about “black noise” in his apartment block.
He also joked about putting his cat in blackface.
Twitter users uncovered a number of other tweets from Rainbow featuring racist jokes and stereotypes, portraying Black people as violent and drug dealers, and joking about names, fried chicken, and even segregation.
Rainbow also repeatedly targeted Latinx people, including calling Mexicans short, lazy, and criminals.
Rainbow also targeted Asian people, including asking if the “asian chick” on The Talk was gay male actor B.D. Wong, and joking about Asian men’s genitals.
Rainbow, who is Jewish, has also posted a number of tweets with anti-Semitic language, including writing, “Comedy is so delicate. One wrong word & a joke can offend an entire group of people. Especially with dirty jews. I MEAN JOKES! DIRTY JOKES!”
He has also branded lesbians as humorless and masculine, including saying his Grindr headline was “less masc than a lesbian but more masc than a kitten.”
Rainbow has also tweeted jokes making light of rape.
After Rainbow started to delete the tweets, Twitter users continued to share screenshots showing his offensive comments and attempts at humor, with one person even creating a spreadsheet of every tweet with offensive language that had been discovered.
Some of his fans came to his defense, arguing that Rainbow shouldn’t be “cancelled” for tweets sent a decade ago, but others have noted that some of the tweets are more recent, and that Rainbow has yet to apologize or accept responsibility for the tweets.
Rainbow has also yet to publicly comment on the tweets, despite requests from multiple outlets.
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