In the American comedian Dave Chappelle's latest stand-up show The closer, which premiered on October 5, he comments on the discussion about transgender people and biological sex.
In a segment of the show, he jokes that he and Harry Potter author JK Rownling stand side by side as "team TERF", where TERF is an abbreviation for a phalanx of feminists who believe that transgender people's gender is determined by their biological sex and that it can not be changed.
Meets strong criticism
Several LGBTQ organizations in the United States have criticized the program for being transphobic.
Netflix employees have also objected to Dave Chappelle's statements and an internal conflict over what comedians should be allowed to say in the streaming service's stand up program has flared up.
Producer Jaclyn Moore, who made the Netflix series Dear white people, has said she will not work with Netflix as long as they "continue to spend and make money on obviously transphobic content."
Netflix defends
In a statement to Netflix employees, CEO Ted Sarandos expressed his support for Dave Chappelle.
"We are convinced that the content of the show will not have any harmful consequences in the real world," he wrote in the announcement.
In a comment to the announcement, representatives from the American LGBTQ organization GLAAD say that misleading information and stereotypical depictions in film and television have certainly led to harmful consequences for LGBTQ people, a comment that Netflix has not yet responded to.
In connection with a performance at the big concert arena Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles last week, when the conflict over Dave Chappelle's show started to pick up, he met the audience's applause with the comment: "If this is how it feels to be boycotted, then I love it" .