Netflix standing by Dave Chappelle regarding hate speech accusations
"Gender is a fact. Every human being in this room, every human being on earth, had to pass through the legs of a woman to be on earth. That is a fact," the comedian says in his comedy special “The Closer” that debuted on Netflix last week
Netflix has come under fire for “The Closer” series on their platform, in which comedian Dave Chappelle cracks jokes about transgender people.
"Several of you have also asked where we draw the line on hate. 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. I recognize, however, that distinguishing between commentary and harm is hard, especially with stand-up comedy which exists to push boundaries. Some people find the art of stand-up to be mean-spirited but our members enjoy it, and it's an important part of our content offering," commented Ted Sarandos, reported CNN.
Sarandos is one of the leading people in Netflix and it appears that he leaped to Dave Chappelle's defense, who provoked a stormy reaction from the public with comments about gender identity.
Namely, in his new special "The Closer" Chappelle declared himself as "the TERF team", referring to radical feminists who exclude transgender women from their movement.
"Gender is a fact. Every human being in this room, every human being on earth, had to pass through the legs of a woman to be on earth. That is a fact,” Chappelle said, adding that he encountered a wave of negative comments concerning jokes about famous transgender woman Caitlyn Jenner, criticizing cancel culture and attacks on Harry Potter author JK Rowling. He also spoke openly about his friendship with Daphne Dorman, a transgender woman and comedian who committed suicide in 2019.
Netflix suspended three employees for attending a virtual meeting of directors and vice presidents without notice. Terra Field, one of the suspended employees, who identifies as a queer and transgender person, has publicly criticized the special on Twitter, but Netflix claims it has nothing to do with her suspension.
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
The American media monitoring organization GLAAD and the LGBTQ community condemned Chappelle's comments from the specials.
"Netflix has a policy that content 'designed to incite hate or violence' is not allowed on the platform, but we all know that anti-LGBTQ content does exactly that. While Netflix is home to groundbreaking LGBTQ stories, now is the time for Netflix execs to listen to LGBTQ employees, industry leaders, and audiences and commit to living up to their own standards," they said.
Netflix has a policy that content "designed to incite hate or violence" is not allowed on the platform, but we all know that anti-LGBTQ content does exactly that. 1/2 https://t.co/68qIAAeghl — GLAAD (@glaad) October 11, 2021
Chappelle's team says this is the last time the comedian has commented on transgender issues. Check Chapelle's controversial performance here.
By: Sarah R.
