As first reported by The Verge, The Trans Employee Resource Group at Netflix is planning a walkout scheduled for October 20th of 2021. Amid the recent controversy surrounding Dave Chapelle’s special, The Closer, and how employees of the company and Netflix audiences have been treated.
In a statement via an internal organizing message, a resource group leader shared this regarding the walkout and how Netflix handles some of its content.
“Trans Lives Matter. Trans Rights Matter. And as an organization, Netflix has continually failed to show deep care in our mission to Entertain the World by repeatedly releasing content that harms the Trans community and continually failing to create content that represents and uplifts Trans content. We can and must do better!”
An employee was reportedly suspended after Tweeting about Chapelle’s special as well; the thread on Twitter sparked a conversation about “offense,” as stated by Terra Field, and how employees genuinely feel.
The Verge also shared part of a statement emailed to them via Netflix where the company states that no one has been suspended for tweeting about Chapelle’s latest special. It was also reported that the suspension came after employees tried to attend a meeting they “weren’t invited to.”
“It is absolutely untrue to say that we have suspended any employee for tweeting about this show. Our employees are encouraged to disagree openly and we support their right to do so.”
No more information has been made public about the walkout or the status of the suspended employee.