A trans employee that publicly criticized Dave Chappelle's recent comedy special has been suspended by Netflix for crashing an executive meeting.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, engineer Terra Field and two other Netflix employees were suspended for attempting to join an executive quarterly meeting. Field's negative tweets about The Closer, Chappelle's controversial comedy special, went viral, leading to speculation Fields was suspended in retaliation. However, a Netflix spokesperson denied the speculation. "It is absolutely untrue to say that we have suspended any employees for tweeting about this show," a Netflix spokesperson said. "Our employees are encouraged to disagree openly and we support their right to do so."
Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix, defended Chappelle in a memo sent out to Netflix staff last week. "Chappelle is one of the most popular stand-up comedians today, and we have a long standing deal with him. … As with our other talent, we work hard to support their creative freedom — even though this means there will always be content on Netflix some people believe is harmful, like Cuties, 365 Days, 13 Reasons Why or My Unorthodox Life," Sarandos wrote in the Netflix memo.
"Several of you have also asked where we draw the line on hate. We don't allow titles on Netflix that are designed to incite hate or violence, and we don't believe The Closer crosses that line," Sarandos added. "I recognize, however, that distinguishing between commentary and harm is hard, especially with stand-up comedy which exists to push boundaries. Some people find the art of stand-up to be mean-spirited but our members enjoy it, and it's an important part of our content offering."
Dear White People executive producer Jaclyn Moore publicly cut ties with Netflix over the content of The Closer, which has stoked controversy over Chappelle's anti-LGBTQ statements. "I will not work with them as long as they continue to put out and profit from blatantly and dangerously transphobic content," Moore said on Twitter. "Those words have real consequences. Consequences that every trans woman I know has dealt with. Bruises and panicked phone calls to friends. That's real."
GLAAD also released a statement concerning Netflix suspending employees, as well as its company-wide memo. "Netflix has a policy that content 'designed to incite hate or violence' is not allowed on the platform, but we all know that anti-LGBTQ content does exactly that," GLAAD said. "While Netflix is home to groundbreaking LGBTQ stories, now is the time for Netflix execs to listen to LGBTQ employees, industry leaders, and audiences and commit to living up to their own standards."
Source: The Hollywood Reporter