Nikki Glaser apologizes for 'dumb joke' about disabled trans influencer

This story originally appeared on Them.

Comedian Nikki Glaser is apologizing for a joke she reportedly made at a comedy show in Washington State earlier this month about Briel Adams-Wheatley, a transgender content creator with nearly 1.5 million Instagram followers who posts under the handle @no_limbs_.

That joke was brought to Adams-Wheatley’s attention in a follower DM she shared on her Instagram Story last Thursday. The follower flagged that Glaser’s set included a section on the influencer.

“She did give you lots of [compliments] about your talent and beauty and confidence,” the follower wrote. “She said that already having a hard life with no limbs but still decided to transition.. then something about you had to since you rubbed your penis off with the way you drag yourself across the room. I booed her big time.”

In response, Adams-Wheatley tagged the comedian and wrote in a text field: “@nikkiglaser Why are you making comments about what is or is not in my pants?” She continued: “I bought tickets for your show in November and now I’m really rethinking my plans.”

According to celebrity news site JustJared, Glaser responded within a few hours, and Adams-Whealtey promptly shared the comedian’s message in her Instagram Story “Hey girl. I’m so sorry this got back to you like this. I should have reached out to you. I never meant to hurt your feelings at all. This is not an accurate portrayal of the joke, but I’m sure it’s still not fun to hear you’re in my act,” the comedian wrote, according to JustJared. “I HATE anti trans jokes of all kinds, and to think I may have added to that rhetoric is disgusting to me. I make sure to say in the joke multiple times, ‘I love her, please follow her, she’s so f***ing funny and cool.’ (Not that that takes away from anything if you were offended by it.)”

Adams-Whealtey responded on Monday with a message to her followers, writing on her Instagram Story, “I just wanted to say... Thank you for all the support over the Nikki Glaser situation. I truly didn’t think it was going to blow up the way it did... I’m honestly still processing everything but have been out of town for a wedding. Live/laugh/love you all!!!”

Born in Brazil, Adams-Wheatley, the 27-year-old influencer was adopted and raised in Utah, where she now makes popular content about her life without limbs, her marriage to her husband Adam, fashion, beauty, and more. Adams-Wheatley was born with Hanhart syndrome, a term for congenital disorders that can affect the development of the limbs and the tongue.

In a 2025 interview with Out about her dating and marriage story, she said that self-love played an important role in her journey with Adam. “Love yourself first,” she said. “RuPaul says it all the time — if you can’t love yourself, how in the hell are you gonna love somebody else?”

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