It has been a decidedly bad week for comedian T.J. Miller as multiple allegations of sexual misconduct have been rolling in. As if that weren't enough, he's now been accused of ugly transphobia.
Danielle Solzman is a transgender film critic who contributes to Consequence of Sound, among other publications. Solzman said she knew Miller through Chicago comedy circles, and initially came out as transgender to Miller when they were friends.
Years later, she discovered a transphobic joke on Miller's website, which she pointed out to the comedian. From there, he allegedly sent a grotesquely transphobic email full of cruel and offensive language. "This pursuit of transgender identity is nothing more than an opportunity for you to distinguish yourself as someone who is special, but what is really special is how retarded it is that you would ever think to attack me or say that I've been offensive," Miller allegedly wrote.
Speaking with CoS, Solzman said that the email was decidedly different than the way Miller had treated her when they were friends in Chicago. "In my years of knowing T.J., I didn't see any indication of him being transphobic," she said. "He was one of the first people I came out to as transgender from within the small Chicago comedy circle of friends that I stayed in touch with over the years. The day I came out or the day after, he shared a pic of mine on his Facebook to say that I was his hero."
Read Solzman's correspondence with T.J. Miller below.
Danielle Solzman is a transgender film critic who contributes to Consequence of Sound, among other publications. Solzman said she knew Miller through Chicago comedy circles, and initially came out as transgender to Miller when they were friends.
Years later, she discovered a transphobic joke on Miller's website, which she pointed out to the comedian. From there, he allegedly sent a grotesquely transphobic email full of cruel and offensive language. "This pursuit of transgender identity is nothing more than an opportunity for you to distinguish yourself as someone who is special, but what is really special is how retarded it is that you would ever think to attack me or say that I've been offensive," Miller allegedly wrote.
Speaking with CoS, Solzman said that the email was decidedly different than the way Miller had treated her when they were friends in Chicago. "In my years of knowing T.J., I didn't see any indication of him being transphobic," she said. "He was one of the first people I came out to as transgender from within the small Chicago comedy circle of friends that I stayed in touch with over the years. The day I came out or the day after, he shared a pic of mine on his Facebook to say that I was his hero."
Read Solzman's correspondence with T.J. Miller below.
A lot of people keep asking what I sent to TJ Miller. If you need the context, here's the email that I sent him. I'm including the screenshot of the tweet in which I found out about his use of a transphobic slur in his site's meta description. pic.twitter.com/0Kadh4hflZ
— Danielle Solzman (@DanielleSATM) December 20, 2017
I got this email in early August. I stayed quiet and while it's redacted, I'm too scared to name them for fear of legal threats against me. pic.twitter.com/J2kA5t1vW7
— Danielle Solzman (@DanielleSATM) September 27, 2017