Netflix Employees Are Quitting Over Dave Chappelle’s Latest Special
Dave Chappelle and Netflix have really angered audiences this time.
This article is more than 2 years old
Comedian Dave Chappelle is drawing a growing wave of criticism for his derogatory comments about the LGBTQ+ community. The comments were made in his most recent Netflix stand-up special, titled The Closer. Both Chappelle and Netflix came under fire because of the stand-up special, with Netflix employees openly criticizing the streamer and canceling their work with Netflix.
According to Deadline, Jaclyn Moore, a transgender executive producer on Netflix’s Dear White People, has revealed she’s “done” with Netflix after the streamer aired Dave Chappelle’s The Closer, during which Chapelle made anti-trans and LGBTQIA+ statements. Moore stated that she wouldn’t work with Netflix as long as the streaming giant continues to air and profit from what she described as blatantly and dangerously transphobic content. Additionally, other Netflix employees also spoke against the company, criticizing Netflix for providing Chappelle with a platform to make transphobic comments.
Dave Chappelle was previously criticized for making transphobic and anti-LGBTQ+ comments on his Netflix specials. In his newest release, the comedian makes explicit jokes about trans women and offers defenses for previous derogatory remarks and statements made by other prominent figures, such as J.K. Rowling, which we already covered in our earlier report. Gender is a fact, according to Chapelle, who stated that “every human being on earth had to pass through the legs of a woman,” negating C-sections, which statistically make up about a third of all birth in the United States alone.
While his comments about gender could be argued on several points, the comedian took the audience to an anatomy class by stating that trans women genitalia are not quite what they appear to be. Apart from that, Dave Chappelle also contrasted homophobic statements made by prominent figures and systematic racism. For example, he said that, in America, a person could shoot and kill a person of color (he used an N-word), but one better not hurt a gay person’s feelings, contrasting the cancellation of rapper DaBaby who was involved in a Walmart shooting incident of 2018.
Well, after years of listening to Dave Chappelle using trans and LGBTQ+ communities in his stand-up acts, the Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation (GLAAD) NGO media monitoring organization drew a line in the digital sand. The organization stated that Chappelle’s brand has become synonymous with ridiculing trans and LGBTQ+ people and other marginalized communities. But GLAAD wasn’t alone, and others have a say in the matter too. David Johns, the National Black Justice Coalition’s executive director, had asked for Netflix to take off Dave Chappelle’s The Closer from streaming.
Johns added that 2021 is on track to be the deadliest year for transgender people in the U.S. – the majority of whom are Black transgender people and that perpetuating transphobia equates to perpetuating violence. In addition to asking Netflix to take down the stand-up special, Johns added that the world’s largest streaming service owes an apology to the transgender community.
Both Dave Chappelle and Netflix declined to comment on the matter. Still, we doubt Netflix will remain indifferent for long, given the scope of the public outcry against the company and the stand-up comedian.
