Here's why I'm optimistic about transgender rights.īut then came "The Closer," released Oct. It was argued that Chappelle was doing what Chappelle has done throughout his celebrated career: wrestling with the most gnarly cultural topics of the day to create difficult, but thoughtful, political comedy.īonauto: I won landmark same-sex marriage case. In three previous specials, " Equanimity," " Deep in the Heart of Texas" and " Sticks & Stones," Chappelle devoted small portions of his time to transgender people in a way that many found offensive but others found honest, curious and funny. I doubt anyone at Netflix imagined they’d be putting out their fourth Chappelle special with segments dedicated to the mockery of transgender people and the promotion of transphobic political beliefs.Īnd yet, here we are.
But there was one group who never got to bask in that big money success: trans folks. Or at least, that’s how Netflix would like us to see it. In 2016, Netflix paid an exorbitant amount of money to comedian Dave Chappelle – reportedly $60 million – and it received in return a series of standup specials to feature. The deal makes sense: Chappelle is by some accounts the greatest standup of all time, and Netflix has been in the business of comedy specials for years.
How Netflix finds itself in this sticky cultural and political morass is bit of a winding tale, so bear with me. Prior to the firing, Netflix had suspended Terra Field, a transgender employee who had tweeted a critical thread aimed at the company’s decision to continue to air anti-trans content.Īll the while, Netflix has stood by the decision to platform, promote and profit from content that will harm transgender people. Last week, the company fired a Black transgender (and pregnant!) employee who helped to organize the walkout. The walkout is the latest in a continually escalating crisis created by transphobic content on the streaming giant’s platform. In addition to the walkout, the resource group has released a number of demands for Netflix to comply with, including “measures … to avoid future instances of platforming transphobia and hate speech.”
Wednesday, members of the trans employee resource group at Netflix will stage a walkout.
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