Netflix Employees Stage Dave Chappelle Walkout: ‘Lives Are at Stake’

Netflix has a storm on its hands.

Hundreds of protesters stood in solidarity with the streaming giant’s employees, who staged a walkout on Wednesday morning in the wake of Dave Chappelle’s inflammatory comedy special The Closer, which has been widely viewed as transphobic.

The walkout came after several days of backlash against Netflix, first for standing by the special, then for temporarily suspending three Netflix workers—one of whom is trans— for attending a high-level meeting about the special, and most recently for firing a Black trans employee who allegedly shared that Netflix had shelled out $24.1 million for the special.

Staffers are now demanding better treatment for transgender workers at the streaming service, alongside a list of other expectations.

In the employees’ letter provided to The Verge, they stated that, “Netflix still has to grow when it comes to content relating to the trans and non-binary community.” The group wants Netflix to invest in trans and non-binary talent and content, recruit trans people—particularly trans people of color—to leadership positions, and to acknowledge potentially transphobic content before it streams.

“We are employees, but we are members, too. We believe that this Company can and must do better in our quest to entertain the world, and that the way forward must include more diverse voices in order to avoid causing more harm,” Netflix trans employees ended the letter.

The blow-up comes after Chappelle’s special premiered on Netflix in early October, and was immediately criticized for homophobic and transphobic comments made—outraging not just Netflix trans employees, but members of the LGBTQ community and its allies.

Comedian Seven Graham, who is intersex, transmasc, non-binary, and uses he/they pronouns, was in attendance at the protest, telling The Daily Beast they felt the special crossed a line.