Netflix's trans employees are organizing a walkout across the company on October 20th. This is in response to the recent release of Dave Chappelles stand-up special The Closerin. In which Chappelle makes a lot of homophobic statements and jokes, as well as claiming that he's Team TERF!, and several claims that trans women aren't real women. CEO Ted Sarandos reaction to the criticism.
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The news of the walkout came as it was reported that Terra Field, a software engineer, and two other employees were not being terminated by Netflix. Field and the other employees were reportedly disciplined by Netflix for attending a meeting they weren't invited to, in which they voiced their dissatisfaction with the decision to publish the work of Chappelles. Netflix management acknowledged the decision in an email screenshot. It stated that Field attended the meeting in good will and assumed that there was a path for her to present her views about the company's practices.
The Verge noted that Sarando's attempts to calm the Chappelle situation have only served to exacerbate tensions between the company, its trans employees, and the company. The company's co-CEO sent an internal letter last week stating that The Closer would be available on its servers. Netflix considered the special to not incite hate, even though it contained explicit rhetoric that attacked trans people and actual violence.
Sarandos also pointed out in what many readers took as a telling digressionthat the previous Chappelles special, Sticks And Stones was our most watched, stickiest, and most awarded stand-up to-up, and that Sarandos had issued a second memo with a strong "love it or hate it" vibe.
We hope you are able to be inspired by entertaining the world while living with movies that we strongly disagree with. You may be wondering if Netflix is still worth your time. I hope you can.
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The Verge also received internal messaging from the trans worker resource group that organized the walkout. The message states that our leadership has demonstrated they don't uphold the values we hold dear. We have received numerous emails with no answers and were told explicity that we cannot understand certain nuances.
