On Wednesday, October 20, employees went on strike in front of Netflix's Los Angeles office.

The reason for the protest was Dave Chappell's new performance, The Closer, which appeared on Netflix on October 5th.

This show was the final in a series of exclusive appearances, in which, according to the synopsis, the comedian "intends to dot the i's - and finally speak out."

In a stand-up stand that lasts more than an hour, the comedian discusses the topics of gender, race, feminism, sexual orientation, and also expresses his opinion about the representatives of the LGBT community.

Dave Schappell discussed the "new gays" who do not tolerate criticism, and also echoed the opinion of the writer J.K. Rowling that gender is a fact.

A group of activists organized a protest to convey a list of demands to Netflix's management.

Proposals include creating a “talent support fund for non-binary people and transpersons”, increasing funding for content aimed at highlighting the LGBT community's agenda, and adding special tags to content promoting transphobia. 

Conflict development

According to Bloomberg, some company representatives expressed their dissatisfaction with Chappell's jokes even before the release of the show "Finally," warning the management of the possible consequences.

However, Global Television Director Bela Bajaria and Co-CEO Ted Sarandos felt the comedian was not overstepping the line.

The conflict spilled over into the public domain when journalists, LGBT people, caring users and Netflix employees began to speak out on social media in large numbers.

Among the commentators, there were both ardent opponents of the position and creativity of Dave Chappell, and those who focused attention on the profession of a comedian, which allows him to raise sensitive topics.

One of the most active participants in the campaign against Chappell's show was Netflix Senior Programmer Terra Field.

Field posted a series of tweets, and soon she and two other employees of the streaming service were fired.

According to Variety, the reason for the removal of workers was not their position on the LGBT community, but their infiltration into a meeting to which they were not invited.

Later, the employees were reinstated in their posts, which, nevertheless, did not stop the development of the conflict.

The stars began to support the activists.

Producer Jacqueline Moore, who worked on Netflix's Dear Whites, said she would no longer partner with the streaming service.

The movement was also supported by actor Colton Haynes, TV star Jonathan Van Ness, screenwriter Jill Soloway and actress Alexandra Billings.

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On October 19, in an interview with Variety, Ted Sarandos admitted that he regrets how the situation was resolved internally.

“Obviously, with this moment of internal communication, I made a big mistake.

A two-pronged miss.

First of all, I should have approached the work of a leader much more humanely.

I mean, a group of my employees were definitely suffering from the decision we made.

I consider it necessary to admit this right away - before delving into the details of anything, ”says Sarandos.

Regardless, he does not believe the video would generate more hatred for the trans-community.

According to the co-CEO, the platform's stand-up presence is driven by Netflix's commitment to supporting creators' creative expression.

“We are committed to supporting the creative freedom and artistic expression of the Netflix creative team.

Sometimes - and we convey this idea to our employees - because we are trying to produce entertainment products for the whole world, and the world consists of people with a wide variety of vulnerabilities, beliefs, sense of humor, and so on, sometimes Netflix will also release what you don’t to your liking, ”warns Ted Sarandos.

J.K. Rowling was previously accused of transphobia.

The writer found herself at the center of a scandal when she posted a post on Twitter - she was criticized for commenting that "menstruating people" are women.

Rowling said she receives hundreds of aggressive comments from transactivists.

Also, the author of the Harry Potter story was harassed on the Internet on the eve of the publication of the book "Bad Blood".