Netflix is so far refusing to cave to the woke Alphabet mafia over Dave Chappelle, with a top company executive reportedly sending an internal memo defending the comedian against accusations of transphobia.
Co-CEO Ted Sarandos said in the memo that the company would not remove Chappelle’s latest comedy special The Closer, despite pressure from some Netflix employees and 2SLGBTQQIA+ activist groups.
“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,” he wrote, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
“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.”
Ted Sarandos, left, and Dave Chappelle attend the 2018 Netflix FYSee Kick-Off Event at Raleigh Studios Hollywood on Sunday, May 6, 2018, in Los Angeles. (Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)
Netflix has reportedly suspended three employees, including a transgender staffer, who publicly spoke out against the show, according to the Reporter. But the company has denied this.
“It is absolutely untrue to say that we have suspended any employees for tweeting about this show,” a spokesperson said in a statement to multiple outlets. “Our employees are encouraged to disagree openly and we support their right to do so.”
The Closer has generated vicious attacks from 2SLGBTQQIA+ groups over Chappelle’s jokes about transgenders and gays, as well as his assertion that “gender is a fact.” “I’m team TERF,” the comedian said in the show, declaring his alliance with “trans-exclusionary radical feminists.”
In the show, Chappelle also called out white gays for their sense of superiority and entitlement. “Gay people are minorities until they need to be white again,” he said.
The male-to-female transgender staffer in question, who goes by the name “Terra Fied” on Twitter, has accused Netflix of allowing The Closer to attack “the trans community, and the very validity of transness.”
“What we object to is the harm that content like this does to the trans community,” the staffer tweeted in a lengthy thread.
“Promoting TERF ideology (which is what we did by giving it a platform yesterday) directly harms trans people, it is not some neutral act. This is not an argument with two sides. It is an argument with trans people who want to be alive and people who don’t want us to be.”
“Terra Fied” didn’t cite any examples of Chappelle’s show allegedly leading to the physical harm of a transgender person.
An anonymous source told the Reporter the employees were suspended for attempting to join a quarterly meeting meant only for directors or vice presidents, and not because of the tweets.
Chappelle himself has offered no apologies to the cancel mob since The Closer was released. During an appearance at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles last week, he reportedly told the appreciative crowd “if this is what being canceled is like, I love it.”
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