Netflix recently suspended three employees, including a transgender employee who tweeted last week criticizing Dave Chappel’s new streaming ad hoc meeting as being transphobic.
Employees were suspended from work after they attended a virtual business meeting between top executives of the company to which they were not invited, a person familiar with the decision said on Monday, on condition of anonymity, to discuss the personnel issue. Netflix said in a statement that transgender employee Terra Field was not suspended from work due to tweets criticizing Mr. Chappel’s show.
“It is absolutely wrong to say that we suspended all employees for tweeting about this show,” a Netflix spokesman said in a statement. “Our employees are encouraged to openly disagree, and we support their right to do so.”
Mr. Chappel’s special comedy “Closer” debuted on Netflix on Tuesday and was quickly criticized by several organizations, including GLAAD, for “making fun of transgender people.” Jacqueline Moore, executive producer of Netflix’s Dear White People, said last week that she will not work with Netflix “as long as they continue to produce and benefit from overtly and dangerously transphobic content.”
Ms Field, a software engineer at Netflix, tweeted last week that the special is “attacking the trans community and the very legitimacy of transness.”
On Monday, after news of her suspension became public after The Verge posted a message, she tweeted, “I just want to say that I appreciate everyone’s support. You are doing well, especially when everything is complicated. “
When criticism of Mr. Chappel’s special began last week, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos sent a memo to the staff defending the comedian.
“Some of you have also asked where we draw the line of hatred,” Mr. Sarandos wrote in a note. “We do not allow hate or violent titles on Netflix, and we do not believe The Closer oversteps that line. However, I understand that distinguishing comment from harm is difficult, especially in stand-up comedies that exist to push boundaries. Some people find stand-up art stingy, but our members love it and it’s an important part of our content. “
Mr Sarandos also referred to Netflix’s “long-standing deal” with Mr Chappelle and said that the 2019 special Sticks & Stones comedian was also “controversial” and was “our most popular, stickiest and most award-winning stand-up ever. release. Date.”
In 2019, Netflix was criticized for blocking an episode of Hassan Minhaj’s theme show “Patriot Act with Hassan Minhadem” in Saudi Arabia after the kingdom’s government approached him. In the episode, Mr. Minaj criticized the Saudi Arabian government and questioned the role of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman in the assassination of journalist Jamal Khashoggi.
“We’re not in the news business,” Netflix co-CEO Reed Hastings said in 2019, explaining his decision. “We are not trying to make the ‘power truth’. We’re trying to have fun. “
