Netflix has suspended three employees, including a transgender staffer who criticized Dave Chappelle’s latest comedy special, for allegedly attending a business meeting they were not invited to.
The streaming giant has launched an investigation into senior software engineer Terra Field and two other workers for crashing its quarterly business review meeting intended only for directors and vice presidents at the company, the Los Angeles Times confirmed Monday.
Last week, Field was among multiple trans staff members who publicly condemned Netflix’s decision to release Chappelle’s “The Closer,” which included several transphobic and insensitive remarks.
Speaking to the Times, a spokesperson for the streamer said:
“It is absolutely untrue to say that we have suspended any employees for tweeting about this show. Our employees are encouraged to disagree openly and we support their right to do so.
Trans TV writer Jaclyn Moore, showrunner and executive producer of Netflix’s “Dear White People,” also spoke out on Twitter against the Chappelle special and cut ties with Netflix.
GLAAD, an American non-governmental media monitoring organization, founded as a protest against defamatory coverage of LGBT people, on Monday said Netflix executives need to “listen to LGBTQ employees, industry leaders, and audiences and commit to living up to their own standards.”
During the quarterly meeting, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos and other invited attendees reportedly discussed how to deal with employees expressing concerns about Chappelle’s stand-up program.
After the virtual gathering, Sarandos defended the company’s latest collaboration with the comedian in a follow-up memo obtained by Variety. The statement reads:
Chappelle is one of the most popular stand-up comedians today, and we have a long-standing deal with him. His last special ‘Sticks & Stones,’ also controversial, is our most-watched, stickiest, and most award-winning stand-up special to date. 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.
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