Will Ferrell says he regrets taking his transgender friend to a Texas steakhouse after she was booed for interrupting people’s dinner with remarks about a trans law.
Ferrell told The New York Times it was a ‘bad choice’ to bring former SNL writer Harper Steele to The Big Texan in Amarillo to film their Netflix documentary Will & Harper.
Steele said: ‘We gave a little toast, and I said something about passing a trans bill, and the room kind of did a reversal and a bit of a boo and a woman shouted out “We still love you.” I hate the phrase.’
Recalling her remarks in greater detail, Steele added: ‘I’m from Iowa but I will raise a glass to your great state of Texas. I wish you guys would do more for trans rights in this state.’
It is unclear what bill Steele was referring to, with Texas cracking down on transgender women in sports and banning trans people from changing their gender on state documents including driving licenses.
Will Ferrell has told how he ‘regrets’ taking his transgender friend Harper Steele (pictured together at the table) to a Texas steakhouse for their Netflix documentary
Steele said she interpreted the woman’s response as suggesting she ‘stop being trans and give her life to Christ’. But the woman in question wasn’t asked to comment further, with that moment cut from the finished show.
Steele also claimed she’d have gotten a better reception in her home state of Iowa – although legislators there have passed a slew of anti-trans bills similar to those in Texas.
Ferrell said ‘the vibes were so off’ in The Big Texan after he arrived with his transgender guest in March 2023 while himself dressed as Sherlock Holmes.
He told the Times that he regrets bringing Steele there. But the Anchorman star didn’t explain why he’d taken Steele to the steakhouse in the first place.
Some commenters suggested the showbiz pair were hoping to wind people up and cause a scene that would make good TV.
‘The saddest part for me is…I just feel…I feel like I let you down in that moment,’ a teary Ferrell said in the movie, likening the situation to being in a ‘fishbowl’.
Texas has some of the most conservative laws around transgender rights, including a ban on gender-affirming care for children, as well as rules forcing teens to use specific bathrooms and banning transgender girls playing on sporting teams which align with their gender.
Ferrell sported his Sherlock Holmes costume which only added to the frenzy surrounding them
Steele recalled how the crowd became hostile after he got up and made a speech about the need for greater trans rights in Texas
The actor was on the road with fellow former SNL performer Harper Steele as part of their film ‘Will and Harper’ which explores Steele’s recent transition
More recently the state has forbidden transgender Texans from updating their gender on their drivers’ license or birth certificate.
Ferrell explained that he and Steele stopped by the restaurant to take part in its 72oz steak challenge.
But the crowd’s reaction immediately let to Ferrell feeling remorse.
‘I mean, the vibes were so off because, to put it bluntly, there was a trans woman sitting,’ he explained.
‘I didn’t really have a grasp on how intense it was going to be and felt responsible for not properly vetting the situation we were putting ourselves in.
‘That felt like it was going to be this benign place where you eat a big steak in the amount of time, and then you walk in and it’s a thousand people seated in this room and I was like, ‘Oh, why are we here?’
Ferrell and Steele met on the set of SNL in the 1990s and quickly became friends
‘I wished I’d walked in and said: “No. This is going to be terrible. Let’s just go.” I was feeling that remorse and guilt of even going there.’
The negative response continued on social media, where the pair were flooded with criticism and anti-trans hate.
However, Steele did not appear to have regrets about making the documentary.
‘There’s a process of normalizing queer people for America, and this movie does that. It makes the trans experience more understandable,’ he said.
Ferrell and Steele met on the set of SNL in the 1990s and quickly became friends.
Steele went on to become head writer and in In 2020, the friends co-wrote Eurovision Song Contest: The Story of Fire Saga.
Steele came out as a trans woman in 2022 at the age of 61.
