Nikki Glaser was publicly called out by influencer Briel Adams-Wheatley, who learned that the comedian was using her trans identity and her life without limbs as stand-up comedy material.
The backlash led to Nikki issuing an apology to Briel for her jokes, branded as “tacky and gross” by fans.
“It’s wild to start her ‘apology’ with I’m sorry you found out,” a fan commented on Nikki’s response.
Nikki Glaser was publicly called out by influencer Briel Adams-Wheatley for a “gross” joke
The public debacle began after Briel Adams-Wheatley shared a screenshot of a fan’s message in her DMs, alerting her about Nikki Glaser’s new tactic to make her audience laugh.
The fan said Nikki had apparently used Briel’s life as fodder for her jokes during a stand-up show.
“Oh no. What were the jokes she made about me?” the influencer asked, to which the fan said Nikki had showered the influencer with compliments about her “talent and beauty and confidence,” noting that she was already living a “hard life” without limbs even before deciding to transition.
“Then something about you had to since you rubbed your p**** off with the way you drag yourself across the room,” the fan added.
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Briel shared a screenshot of the message and tagged Nikki’s Instagram handle, asking: “Why are you making comments about what is or is not in my pants?”
The internet star then said she had bought tickets to see Nikki’s show in November but began rethinking her plans after learning about Nikki’s new stand-up routine.
Briel’s public confrontation triggered a response from Nikki, who slid into her DMs and left an apology in the chat.
Nikki, who has hosted the Golden Globes twice already, admitted that she should have reached out to the influencer before joking about her disability, her transition, and her private parts.
“I never meant to hurt your feelings at all,” the comedian said in an apology she left in Briel’s chat
The 42-year-old comedian said the fan’s relay of information wasn’t an “accurate portrayal of the joke,” but she also understood that it wouldn’t have been “fun” for Briel to find out that she was in her “act.”
“I HATE anti trans jokes of all kinds and to think I may have added to that rhetoric is disgusting to me,” Nikki said.
She asserted that in her show, she repeats a number of times that she loves Briel and urges her audience to follow her because she’s “funny and cool.” But that didn’t justify her jokes “if [she was] offended by it.”
“I want you to know my intent. It’s a dumb joke, and I will lose it immediately,” she concluded. “I love you, and I’m so sorry!”
Briel later addressed fans in an Instagram Story, thanking them for their support over the “Nikki Glaser situation.”
“I truly didn’t think it was going to blow up the way it did…” she said. “I’m honestly still processing everything but have been out of town for a wedding. Live/laugh/love you all!!!”
Fans of the influencer were outraged by Nikki’s apology, asking: “When are comedians gonna learn times have changed, we punch up now not down.”
“This is so disappointing on her part. Really thought she had promise,” said another fan. “Briel is literally so sweet in her online presence. I’m so appalled someone would even make a joke out of her.”
Fans sided with the influencer, saying: “Briel is super cool and I think she’d actually be fine with a joke that wasn’t so crass and tacky and gross (and unfunny)”
Some had an issue with the way Nikki worded the apology and commented: “‘I’m sorry you heard that,’ like? Okay, but are you sorry you said it?”
Others appreciated Nikki’s response, saying: “Bye I love her what an amazing apology.”
Another said, “I don’t know but I thought her messaging and apologizing was sweet and genuine.”
“It’s comedy!!!” another squealed in Nikki’s defense.
Over the past years, Briel has managed to build a massive fan following of 1.4 million on Instagram, sharing makeup videos and little moments from her everyday life. Her husband Adam regularly appears in her videos as well.
Born with no limbs, Briel was diagnosed with Hanhart Syndrome, which is a group of conditions characterized by the underdevelopment of the limbs, mouth, and jaw.
The Brazilian-born star was also diagnosed with scoliosis, which is an abnormal side-to-side curvature of your spine.
After being abandoned by her parents when she was just a baby, Briel was adopted by a Mormon couple in Utah and grew up with a dozen other siblings in the house.
The Mormon mother “told my siblings that they weren’t allowed to do things for me and that I needed to figure out how to do it myself,” Briel told the Daily Mail in a September interview.
While others may see it as “rude,” she said his mother’s attitude helped instill a sense of independence and self-reliance in her.
“Now, being a successful 26-year-old who is married, and has their own job and income, I have nothing but the deepest gratitude for my mum and all the tough love that she gave me when I was younger,” she told the outlet.
Briel said she is now physically capable of doing absolutely everything, apart from driving herself around, and can smoothly run a home with two dogs and a husband under the same roof.
Abandoned by her parents as a baby, the Brazilian-born influencer was adopted by a Mormon family in Utah
Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for TikTok
The influencer has been open about her transition as well and how her husband, whom she met on Tinder in 2020, supported her throughout.
“I started my transition a year after we got married, right?” Briel said in a video with Adam, whom she said was the “first person to know before everyone.”
While Adam supported her through her transition, he admitted that it was difficult juggling between pronouns at the time.
“It was hard going from like pronouns for more than one reason. One, because I knew before everybody else. So I had to use he/him in front of people, and I couldn’t remember who she had told yet or not,” the husband shared.
“And so it was really confusing to use one thing at home and another [outside their home],” he continued. “And then as soon as I got the pronouns under control, she changed her name and then started wearing wigs.”
Adam has been extremely supportive of his wife, saying he fell in love with her and not “what she was,” just “who she was.”
“To be fair the fan did make it sound so much worse than it was,” one commented online
