The controversy does not fall. A true legend in the United States for his fierce observations of racial inequalities, the comic Dave Chappelle has been accused for years of transphobia. And in his last show, The Closer, launched on Netflix last week, it added a layer. Faced with calls for boycott and deprogramming, the platform defended the comedian on Monday. And cracked down on overly vocal employees.
Even if he assures that he has “no problem” with trans people, Dave Chappelle can not help, for a very long time, often inserting two or three jokes or nasty remarks in his shows (“It’s still a guy with a dress “,” At least they go to the end of their convictions, they cut their b ** e “,” It’s white privilege, Bruce Jenner had less trouble changing genders than Cassius Clay his fucking name ”).
“Dangerous” words
In 2016, Netflix signed one more mega-contract $ 20 million with Netflix and released six shows on the streaming platform. In what could be – for now – his last, The Closer, he swears at first that he will stop talking about the trans community. But a few minutes later, he goes into a tirade about gender: “Gender is a fact. Every human in this room, every human being on Earth had to go through a woman’s legs to be on Earth. It is a fact, ”he said in particular. In passing, he defends the British author JK Rowling, accused by some last year of having made insulting remarks against transgender people on Twitter, claiming to be “Team Terf”, for “Trans-exclusionary radical feminist”.
These statements were not to the liking of LGBTQ advocacy groups, like the National Black Justice Coalition, which asked Netflix to deprogram this show. Jaclyn Moore, the show-runner of Dear White People, a series airing on the platform, has sworn it will no longer work for Netflix “as long as they promote dangerous transphobic content”
Three suspended employees
In a memo to employees, Ted Sarandos, the group’s co-executive director, said Dave Chappelle’s work did not amount to “hate” and that the company would not withdraw the program, according to Variety, which was able to consult the document.
“Some talent could join with third parties in asking us to delete the show in the coming days, which we will not do,” the memo said, adding that Dave Chappelle is one of the most popular artists around. .
“We do not allow (on) Netflix programs designed to incite hatred or violence, and we do not believe that The Closer cross this limit. “I recognize, however, that it is difficult to distinguish between the comment and the insult, especially with the stand-up that exists to push the limits”, we read again.
According to Variety, three employees who had invited themselves to a virtual meeting of executives to protest against this spectacle were suspended. They were sanctioned for attending a meeting to which they were not invited, and not for criticizing the program, says the magazine.