Male comedians in drag remain an uncomfortable form of humor for some, but Miguel A Núñez Jr. sees a double standard between Black and non-Black comics.
In a video posted by TMZ on Wednesday (January 29), the actor-comedian, who famously wore drag in 2002 sports comedy Juwanna Mann, claimed that white actors like Dustin Hoffman and Robin Williams were more praised for their portrayal of men in drag.
"I hear about all this emasculating of men and all of that stuff. We only hear that shit from n***as, period. We only hear that from us," Núñez began. "We don't come out against each other. I don't get it. I don't get the whole entire argument."
After showing his confusion around the "emasculation" topic, Núñez embraced his role as the titular character in Juwanna Mann. "I did Juwanna Mann. I enjoyed it. It was a hell of a funny movie," he said. "You didn't see anybody come out when Dustin Hoffman did Tootsie. It was an amazing movie."
Núñez also brought up Williams as Mrs. Doubtfire. "Those were great films," he said, before making comparisons to Martin Lawrence's Sheneneh Jenkins and Jamie Foxx's Ugly Wanda.
"A man doing a comedy, like Robin Wiliams and Tootsie and Juwanna Mann–those are all comedies," Núñez added. "And if you're putting more into that, that means there's something wrong in your life. ... That means there's something wrong with you."
Black male comedians have dressed in drag for decades, including Eddie Murphy in The Nutty Professor series and Norbit, along with Lawrence in Big Momma's House. Although he's not a traditional comedian, Tyler Perry has worn drag as his signature Madea character.
Last January, Katt Williams appeared on Club Shay Shay and scolded his comedy peers for wearing drag, namely Rickey Smiley and Lawrence.
Marlon Wayans shares Núñez's point of view, noting the drag debate around the 29-minute mark of his interview on Big Boy's Neighborhood, seen below.
"I'm tired of the rhetoric of, 'Oh, you sell out out in Hollywood 'cause you wore a dress.' Negro, I wore a dress, it's called White Chicks. You know what we did? We did a classic. Only Black people sit there and go, 'Man, our brothers wearing dresses.'"