Netflix chief Ted Sarandos has returned to his backing of artistic freedom, supporting comedians Dave Chappelle and Ricky Gervais in an interview Sunday against detractors who seek to silence their alternative views.
In an interview with the New York Times, he told Maureen Dowd comedians had a job to test the limits of public acceptability. The only way to do that is by “crossing the line every once in a while. I think it’s very important to the American culture generally to have free expression.
“We’re programming for a lot of diverse people who have different opinions and different tastes and different styles, and yet we’re not making everything for everybody. We want something for everybody, but everything’s not going to be for everybody.”
The Chappelle support “wasn’t hard in that way. And rarely do you get the opportunity to put your principles to the test,” he said, affirming the basic premise that when you suppress an opinion, you suppress a debate.
“It was an opportunity to take somebody, like in Dave’s case, who is, by all measure, the comedian of our generation, the most popular comedian on Netflix for sure. Nobody would say that what he does isn’t thoughtful or smart. You just don’t agree with him. ”
Dave Chappelle, Nicole Avant, and Ted Sarandos speak backstage during the 36th Annual Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame Induction Ceremony at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse on October 30, 2021 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame )
Sandos continued that Netflix has in the past spoken of its support for free expression, especially after Chappelle was attacked onstage during a performance at the Hollywood Bowl.
“It used to be a very liberal issue, so it’s an interesting time that we live in,” Sarandos said, explaining his thoughts on becoming a conservative hero. “I always said if we censor in the U.S., how are we going to defend our content in the Middle East?”
While his Times conversation mostly centred on Chappelle, the interview also introduced the topic of Gervais’ new special, which debuted earlier this week and has drawn similar attacks for allegedly using transphobic language.
When asked, Sarandos confirmed his comments regarding Chappelle’s freedoms are universal and also applied to Gervais.
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