Dave Chappelle Is Willing To Sit Down With Netflix Employees Following Their Walkout

Dave Chappelle

Dave Chappelle Is Willing To Sit Down With Netflix Employees Following Their Walkout

Is Dave Chappelle extending an olive branch?

The controversy surrounding Dave Chappelle’s stand-up, The Closer, continued earlier this week as Netflix employees walked out in protest after the streaming service refused to remove the comedy special. Now, Dave Chappelle is reportedly open to a conversation.

 

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Chappelle’s rep. says the comedian has always been open to dialogue however alleges Chappelle was never contacted. But according to Ashlee Marie Preston, the woman that organized the walkout, that’s not the case.

Ashlee Marie Preston said Chappelle was invited to discuss the damage of his jokes but says,

“Dave chose not to show up.”

Ashlee Marie Preston

The special garnished mixed reviews after many felt Chappelle’s jokes were transphobic and hurtful towards the LGBT+ community. As part of the walkout, employees demand that images of Chappelle be removed from their workplace, and for Netflix to acknowledge the harm of the special.

Following the premiere of ‘The Closer,‘ Netflix senior software engineer, Terra Field, expressed why she felt the streaming platform needed to be held responsible for its content. In an article, she said,

“Dave is not, and has never been, the cause of this problem — he is a symptom of it. That Dave believes the things he says and can say them with relative impunity is a result of the culture we live in: a culture that marginalizes and devalues trans people. He contributes to that culture in a very real way, but at least he isn’t out there bragging about how many LGBTQ+ allyship awards he has won while he is doing it.”

She added,

“When a company like Netflix says something like, ‘We do not believe this content is harmful to the transgender community,’ you can be virtually certain that not a single trans person was involved in that decision. And how are we supposed to speak up for ourselves if we aren’t in the room? And how are Black trans women supposed to speak up for themselves if the company doesn’t employ any (that our ERG is aware of)?”

Do yo think Netflix should pull the special? Tell us in the comments. 

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