Netflix put out Dave Chappelle’s latest special “The Closer.” During the stand-up, Chappelle talks about how the trans community bullied his friend to death and takes more than a few jabs at them. So of course the LGBTQ are up in arms and upset with Netflix for keeping Chappelle’s special on their platform. The CEO of Netflix, Ted Sarandos, has been adamantly defending the move, but recently he admitted he “screwed up.” During an interview with Variety, he explained how.
An excerpt from the interview:
“Do you have any regrets about how this process was handled, especially in your internal communication with employees?
Ted Sarandos: Obviously, I screwed up that internal communication. I did that, and I screwed it up in two ways. First and foremost, I should have led with a lot more humanity. Meaning, I had a group of employees who were definitely feeling pain and hurt from a decision we made. And I think that needs to be acknowledged up front before you get into the nuts and bolts of anything. I didn’t do that. That was uncharacteristic for me, and it was moving fast and we were trying to answer some really specific questions that were floating. We landed with some things that were much more blanket and matter-of-fact that are not at all accurate.
Of course storytelling has real impact in the real world. I reiterate that because it’s why I work here, it’s why we do what we do. That impact can be hugely positive, and it can be quite negative. So, I would have been better in that communication. They were joining a conversation already in progress, but out of context. But that happens, internal emails go out. In all my communications I should lean into the humanity up front and not make a blanket statement that could land very differently than it was intended.”
“I want to circle back and ask definitively, do you personally and does Netflix feel that “The Closer” does not amount to hate speech?
Under the definition of “does it intend to cause physical harm, ?” I do not believe it falls into hate speech.
So the special will remain on the service?
I don’t believe there have been many calls to remove it.”
At least he didn’t cave to the Left here. It seems the pressure is starting to build up and more people are now speaking out against Chappelle, but it looks like Sarandos intends to hold strong and maintain the freedom of speech.
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