Netflix walkout over Dave Chappelle comedy special: All you need to know

Netflix employees staged a walkout on Wednesday after Dave Chappelle made “transphobic comments” in his special “The Closer”. She said, “I stand with the trans, nonbinary, and BIPOC employees at Netflix fighting for more and better trans stories and a more inclusive workplace.” Lilly Wachowski of The Matrix fame, a transgender herself, said, “If you’re not standing up for trans lives, you need to take a good look at who you ARE standing with.” Comic Wanda Sykes stated, “Standing in solidarity with the Netflix employees speaking truth to power today and sending my full love and support.” The protesters and their supporters are accusing Dave Chappelle of contributing to “real life hate” towards transgenders and people from the LGBT community. At today’s Netflix walkout, where “trans lives matter” chants are going up against Chappelle supporters shouting “I like jokes” pic.twitter.com/eX1qHgdj7R — Kirsten Chuba October 20, 2021 The Dave Chappelle Comedy Special controversy: What CEO Ted Sarandos said Earlier, the streaming platform had fired an employee for leaking confidential information regarding the Dave Chappelle special. In a letter a few days later, Ted Sarandos said that “content on screen doesn’t directly translate to real-world harm.” “The strongest evidence to support this is that violence on screens has grown hugely over the last thirty years, especially with first party shooter games, and yet violent crime has fallen significantly in many countries,” he said in that particular letter before adding, “Adults can watch violence, assault and abuse — or enjoy shocking stand-up comedy — without it causing them to harm others.” Later, however, Sarandos claimed that he had “screwed up” but reaffirmed his belief that the comedy special was consistent with the content Netflix has to offer.