Netflix employees staged a walkout and protest at the company’s Los Angeles headquarters on Wednesday, responding to leadership’s decision to promote a controversial comedy special by Dave Chappelle.
In “The Closer,” Chappelle spends significant time discussing transgender people, making several jokes and remarks critics have characterized as transphobic, insensitive, and bigoted. Some say the rhetoric is dangerous and can lead to more stigma and violence against the trans community.
Participants included transgender Netflix employees, other employees critical of the special’s content, and allies, who rallied on Vine Street in Hollywood Wednesday morning. Protesters chanted while carrying signs promoting gender inclusivity.
“What do we want? Accountability. When do we want it? Now!” they shouted.
Writer-director Jill Solloway of Amazon Prime’s Transparent attended the rally and spoke in support of walkout participants.
Also present were a number of counter-protesters, fans of Chappelle who held signs reading “Jokes are funny,” and “Dave is funny.” Photos and videos obtained by TMZ captured one protester waving a sign reading “#TeamTERF,” referring to “trans-exclusionary radical feminism,” a movement espousing anti-trans rhetoric.
The walkout was prompted by Netflix’s decision to suspend three employees for crashing a high-level executive meeting to voice their concerns over the special; firing a pregnant worker who organized the employee response; and publicly aligning behind Chappelle. Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos insisted “content on screen doesn’t directly translate to real-world harm,” saying he did not believe Chappelle’s special amounted to hate speech because it did not incite violence.
Sarandos reversed course in the face of public outcry, admitting he “screwed up” the company’s response, noting “of course storytelling has an impact on the real world—sometimes positive and sometimes negative.”
He stopped short of indicating whether Netflix would take any action to modify the content of “The Closer.” Only one of the suspended employees has reportedly been reinstated.
Walkout participants have asked the company to include a disclaimer with streamings of “The Closer” warning viewers that it “contains transphobic language, misogyny, homophobia, and hate speech.” They’ve also asked the company to set up a fund for cultivating trans, nonbinary, and gender non-conforming talent.
The company released a statement prior to the walkout apologizing for any “hurt” caused.
“We respect the decision of any employee who chooses to walk out, and recognize we have much more work to do both within Netflix and in our content,” the statement read.
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