News

#The Wall Street Journal: Netflix employee group plans walkout amid tensions over Dave Chappelle special

#The Wall Street Journal: Netflix employee group plans walkout amid tensions over Dave Chappelle special

Workers complain comedian’s anti-trans comments are offensive; co-CEO Sarandos defends show

Tensions are rising inside Netflix Inc. over a Dave Chappelle stand-up special that some employees said was offensive to the transgender community, the latest clash between the streaming giant’s radical-candor culture and its embrace of creative freedom.

A Netflix transgender-employee group is encouraging staff to stage a walkout next Wednesday to protest Co-Chief Executive and Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos’s recent defense of Chappelle’s special. The plans for a walkout were earlier reported by the Verge and confirmed by Netflix
NFLX,
+0.77%.

In “The Closer,” which was released last week and is currently among the most-watched programs on the service in the U.S., Chappelle said “gender is a fact” and said he identified as a “TERF,” an acronym that stands for “trans-exclusionary radical feminist.” Chappelle said he isn’t a favorite of the trans community, then added, “Someone told me, ‘They after you, Dave,’ and I said, ‘One they or many theys?’ ”

A day after the special’s release, Terra Field, a Netflix software engineer who is transgender, criticized the show on Twitter, saying Chappelle attacked “the trans community, and the very validity of transness.” The tweets went viral and led to a backlash inside the streaming giant over the special. Groups including LGBTQ-rights advocacy group GLAAD spoke up against the show, and the National Black Justice Coalition asked for Netflix to take the special off its platform.

On Monday, Sarandos issued a companywide email defending the special and saying the service wouldn’t pull it down. Sarandos said the company works hard to support creative freedom and this means “there will always be content on Netflix some people believe is harmful.” He also said he didn’t think the special incites hate or violence. Chappelle has a longstanding relationship with Netflix, having made multiple specials for the streaming service. In the end credits of “The Closer,” there is a picture of Chappelle and Sarandos laughing together.

An expanded version of this report appears on WSJ.com.

Also popular on WSJ.com:

Crews are abandoned on ships in record numbers without pay, food or a way home.

Social Security benefits to increase 5.9% for 2022.

If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on Google News too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.

For forums sites go to Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com

If you want to read more News articles, you can visit our News category.

Source

Related Articles

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Back to top button
Close

Please allow ads on our site

Please consider supporting us by disabling your ad blocker!