CelebritiesAccording to the American website The Verge, a thousand employees of Netflix, including several transgender people, plan to do a virtual walk-out next Wednesday. The protest comes after Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos refuses to remove Dave Chappelle’s special from the platform. On his show, Chappelle laughs at trans people and defends, among other things, the controversial statements of JK Rowling.
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According to a Netflix employee, Sarandos announced the news in two memos. In the first message, the businessman announced that he does not intend to take Dave Chapelle’s special offline. In his second statement, Ted Sarandos wrote, among other things, that “the content on the small screen does not cause damage in real life”.
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To make his position clear, the CEO raised the following argument. “The ultimate evidence to back this up is that violence on screens has exploded over the past thirty years. Just look at first party shooter games, for example, yet crime has dropped significantly in many countries.” In his opinion, adults can therefore watch films in which violence, assault, abuse or shocking statements are discussed and that without negative consequences for others.
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No respect
Several Netflix employees clearly disagree. An employee of the streaming platform said in an interview that the announcements from Sarandos were largely the reason for the announced walk-out next Wednesday. Transgenders in particular felt personally attacked by the messages. Although they soon had several allies within the company. During the virtual walk-out, a kind of strike, the participating employees will stop working. Instead, they will focus on donating to charities and encouraging others to support the trans community. “The memo was very disrespectful,” said an employee who preferred to testify anonymously. “It didn’t invite a serious conversation about this difficult topic, and it normally should.”
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(Read more below the video.)
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A Netflix spokesperson responded to the whole fuss on Wednesday. In a statement in The Hollywood Reporter, the company made it clear that they support “artistic expression” and that they “encourage their employees to speak up for their opinions”. In addition, the streaming platform announced that Dave Chappelle’s specials are the most watched comedy specials on Netflix. Chappelle has also won several awards for his work, including an Emmy and a Grammy Award. The streaming service did not release exact figures for ‘The Closer’, the special in question.
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In addition, Netflix’s statements appear to be quite contradictory to their actions. Earlier this week, three more Netflix employees were suspended for attending a board meeting to speak out against Chappelle’s special. The trio, including a Netflix technician who is trans, was allowed to return to work after protests from the general public.
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