Elliot Page has voiced his support for Netflix employees who staged a walkout over ‘transphobic content’ aired in Dave Chappelle’s new show, The Special.
The actor, who came out as trans in 2020, took to Twitter and said he stands with ‘the trans, nonbinary, and BIPOC employees’.
He wrote: “I stand with the trans, nonbinary, and BIPOC employees at Netflix fighting for more and better trans stories and a more inclusive workplace #NetflixWalkout.”
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Staff organised the strike to air their frustrations at the handling of complaints about the special, with hundreds gathering near the company’s headquarters in Los Angeles.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the walkout was organised by a group of Netflix employees calling themselves ‘Team Trans,’ and was posted on an employee forum.
Its description read: “As we’ve discussed through slack, email, texts and everything in between, our leadership has shown us that they do not uphold the values for which we are held.”
Bosses at the company reportedly suspended staff and sent out memos to employees saying they would uphold their ‘commitment to artistic expression,’ and that ‘they are on the right side’.
The Guardian reports that Netflix CEO, Ted Sarandos, has said he’s ‘screwed up’ over sending memos to staff defending Chappelle’s comedy show, but insists his stance on the material featured in The Closer ‘hasn’t changed’.
He said: “You really can’t please everybody or the content would be pretty dull.
“And we do tell our employees upfront that we are trying to entertain our members, and that some of the content on Netflix you’re not going to like… This kind of commitment to artistic expression and free artistic expression is sometimes in conflict with people feeling protected and safe.”
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