Three Netflix employees have been suspended for crashing a director-level meeting they weren’t invited to, including Terra Field, a transgender worker who spoke out against the latest Dave Chappelle special, Closer.
Dave Chappelle’s latest Netflix special has faced widespread backlash from the LGBTQ+ community after the comedian defended author JK Rowling’s controversial transgender stance.
In the wake of the release of The Closer, Netflix software engineer Terra Field took to Twitter to criticise the special, writing that the comedian “attacks the trans community, and the very validity of transness.”
I work at @netflix. Yesterday we launched another Chappelle special where he attacks the trans community, and the very validity of transness – all while trying to pit us against other marginalized groups. You’re going to hear a lot of talk about “offense”.
We are not offended 🧵
— Terra Field (@RainofTerra) October 7, 2021
“What we object to is the harm that content like this does to the trans community (especially trans people of color) and VERY specifically Black trans women,” Field wrote in a series of viral tweets. Field continued to say that the existence of transgender people is “funny” to Chappelle, and “when we object to his harm, we’re ‘offended.’”
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She then listed a series of names of trans people, with a specific focus on trans women of color, that have been murdered in hate crimes.
Late last week, three employees of Netflix, including Field, were suspended after crashing Netflix’s quarterly business review — a two-day virtual meeting involving the top 500 employees at the company.
In a statement provided to Variety, a Netflix spokesperson confirmed that those employees were not suspended for tweeting about Closer. “Our employees are encouraged to disagree openly and we support their right to do so,” they said.
In the wake of the Chappelle controversy, Netflix’s co-Chief Executive Officer Ted Sarandos released a memo, addressing employees concerns with airing the special, and defending the comedy special as an expression of “artistic freedom.”
“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.
“Particularly in stand-up comedy, artistic freedom is obviously a very different standard of speech than we allow internally as the goals are different: entertaining people versus maintaining a respectful, productive workplace.”
“It never feels good when people are hurting, especially our colleagues,” he continued. “You should also be aware that some talent may join third parties in asking us to remove the show in the coming days, which we are not going to do.”
As The Verge note, over the past few years, the trans employee resource group at Netflix has met with executives in an attempt to educate them about the consequences of platforming transphobic content. In 2018, the service was mired in controversy after purchasing Lukas Dhont’s Girl, which follows a teenager ballerina’s gender transition.
The film was criticized for its depiction of gender dysphoria and self-harm, sparking conversations about cisgender directors creating art about trans people.
Within the memo, Sarandos highlighted Netflix’s commitment to platforming inclusive art, “we’re working hard to ensure more people see their lives reflected on screen and that under-represented communities are not defined by the single story,” he wrote, highlighting titles like Sex Education, Young Royals, Control Z, and Disclosure.
