The controversy surrounding Dave Chappelle’s latest special, The Closer, has been rampant online and Netflix is getting serious heat over their decision to keep it up on the platform. Not only has the National Black Justice Coalition called for the company to remove the special, but even their own Trans Employee Resource Group had made plans to stage a walkout on Oct. 20. Now, the employee who was organizing that walkout has been fired.
The employee, who was confirmed to be fired by Netflix by The Verge, preferred to remain anonymous for fear of harassment she might face. However, she did still comment on the situation to the news site.
“All these white people are going around talking to the press and speaking publicly on Twitter and the only person who gets fired is the Black person who was quiet the entire time. That’s absurd, and just further shows that Black trans people are the ones being targeted in this conversation.”
The employee was fired on suspicion of her leaking metrics about The Closer to the press which were reported on by Bloomberg. A Netflix spokesperson commented:
“We have let go of an employee for sharing confidential, commercially sensitive information outside the company. We understand this employee may have been motivated by disappointment and hurt with Netflix, but maintaining a culture of trust and transparency is core to our company.”
With more and more employees at the company taking issue with The Closer, as well as the suspension of and then subsequent reinstatement of a trans employee who spoke out on Twitter, internal tensions at Netflix are likely at an all-time high. We can only wait until Oct. 20 to see if the walkout at the company will still take place without its organizer at the helm.