Update [15 October]:
An email received by one of the employees who was suspended confirms that she did in fact have permission to attend the virtual meeting.
Original report:
Netflix has suspended three employees, including a trans woman, following criticisms of Dave Chapelle's comedy special, The Closer, that went viral. Netflix says software engineer Terra Field and two other employees attempted to join a virtual business meeting they did not have permission to attend.
The Closer is Chapelle's latest comedy special produced and streamed by Netflix and is yet another instance where the comedian uses LGBTQ+ groups as the punchline for his jokes. In a report from The Verge, Netflix says "it is absolutely untrue" that Field was suspended for her tweets about the Chapelle special. Last Wednesday, October 6, Field posted a thread to Twitter where she tagged Netflix and listed victims of anti-trans violence.
In her tweets, Field explains how trans critics are not "complaining about 'being offended'" and are angered over "the harm that content like this does to the trans community," and how violent transphobia especially targets Black trans women.
The Verge reports that another employee is quitting over how Netflix has handled Chapelle's special and its response to Field. One employee added that an advocacy group at Netflix has long tried to teach executive management about transphobic content, while leadership like co-CEO Ted Sarandos continues to defend the platform's choices.
In a memo sent to employees over the weekend, reported on by The Hollywood Reporter, Sarandos wrote that "As with our other talent, we work hard to support their creative freedom — even though this means there will always be content on Netflix some people believe is harmful".
The Co-CEO says Netflix draws the line on content that is "designed to incite hate or violence" and believes The Closer does not cross that line. However, LGBTQ+ advocacy organization GLAAD disagrees, sharing reviews of the latest special on Twitter and adding, "Dave Chappelle's brand has become synonymous with ridiculing trans people and other marginalized communities."
In Chapelle's latest standup routine, he references other controversies where he feels other celebrities have been "canceled" for their comments on LGBTQ+ issues. Chapelle also said he's "team TERF," and spent parts of the segment using talking points about biology commonly cited by anti-trans advocates.