Dave Chappelle jokes about trans people on a Netflix program. Now employees of the streaming giant are reacting.
Scotts Valley – On October 20, 2021, Netflix’s internal trans workforce group is planning a company-wide strike. The strike is organized in response to a statement by Co-CEO Ted Sarandos. According to the online magazine The Verge, he defended the new Netflix comedy program “The Closer” by Dave Chappelle. The comedy special was widely criticized for its transphobic content.
“Trans lives are valuable. Trans rights matter. And as an organization, Netflix has consistently neglected our mission to entertain the world by repeatedly posting content that harms the trans community. They fail to create content that represents and builds trans people, ”wrote one of the chairpersons of the trans employees resource group in an internal organizational message. “We can and must do better!”
Netflix shows a trans and homophobic comedy special by Dave Chapelle
In Chappelle’s latest show, which has aired on Netflix since October 5, 2021, the comedian jokes about the genitals of trans women. He also defends the US rapper Da Baby, who made offensive comments about gays and people infected with HIV at a festival in July 2021. He also stands behind JK Rowling, the author of the “Harry Potter” books, who repeatedly attracts attention through transphobic utterances. Chappelle declares himself to be part of the “Team-TERF”.
“TERF” is an abbreviation and stands for “Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminism”, in German “Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminism”. This is used to describe people who invalidate or discriminate transgender people, especially trans women, and who question trans identity as such or deny their existence. TERFs openly refuse to recognize trans people in their perceived gender and claim an allegedly feminist attitude as the reason for this, in order to prevent trans women (who they perceive as “men”) from intruding into protected spaces for women.
Netflix co-CEO sees no hatred in Chapelle special
In response to Chapelle’s comedy special, trans writer and showrunner of “Dear White People” Jaclyn Moore quit her job at Netflix on October 7, 2021 and stated on Twitter: “I will not work with you as long as you continue to benefit from transphobic content . “
More than 8,000 people have since signed a petition from Change.org asking Netflix to discontinue Chappelle’s special. The petition states: “By providing a platform for Dave Chappelle and his transphobic ‘jokes’, Netflix perpetuates violence and hostility towards transgender people.”
In response, Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos said, according to The Verge, that “The Closer” will not be dropped, adding that Chappelle’s previous special, “Sticks & Stones,” of 2019, was “the most viewed, engaging, and award-winning booth to date. up special ”from the streaming provider. “Some also asked where we draw the line with hatred. We don’t allow titles on Netflix that are meant to incite hatred or violence and we don’t think ‘The Closer’ crosses that line, ”added Sarandos.
Netflix fires trans employee after criticizing the company
That statement didn’t go over well with Netflix employees. The organizers of the group for trans employees wrote, “When we talked about Slack, email, messaging and everything in between, our leadership showed us that they are not living up to the values they expect us to be. Between the numerous e-mails and non-replies, we were expressly told that we somehow cannot understand the nuances of certain content. “
When it became known that a strike was planned, Netflix reinstated trans worker Terra Field, who was suspended after criticizing the company for spreading transphobia and attending an executive meeting without an invitation.
Chappelle’s comedy special “The Closer” follows on from his special “Sticks & Stones” from 2019 , which also contained transhobic comments. Chappelle makes at least $ 20 million per special, according to the Independent. (Sonja Thomaser)
