Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

Comedian Hannah Gadsby Says 'F**k You' To Netflix For Using Her To Defend Dave Chappelle's Transphobia

Comedian Hannah Gadsby Says 'F**k You' To Netflix For Using Her To Defend Dave Chappelle's Transphobia
Don Arnold/WireImage/Getty Images

Amid the furor over Dave Chappelle's new Netflix comedy special The Closer—which contains a litany of jokes that have struck many as transphobic—Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos took the situation from bad to worse last week by defending the special in a now infamous memo to his employees.

Comedian Hannah Gadsby—herself a veteran of comedy specials for the streaming network—is absolutely not having it.


In a post on Instagram, Gadsby lambasted Sarandos—even going so far as to issue her former boss a "F**k You" for his tone-deaf response to the criticism.

See her post below.

Gadsby's response comes after Sarandos cited her as an example of Netflix's commitment to LGBTQ inclusivity in his response to the Chappelle controversy.

His statement read in part:

"We are working hard to ensure marginalized communities aren't defined by a single story. So we have Sex Education, Orange is the New Black, Control Z, Hannah Gadsby and Dave Chappelle all on Netflix. Key to this is increasing diversity on the content team itself."

Maddeningly, he justified his decision not to remove the special from the platform saying:

"While some employees disagree, we have a strong belief that content on screen doesn't directly translate to real-world harm."
That statement struck many as absurd.
And it infuriated LGBTQ people and allies, given LGBTQ people in general are at the center of a surge in hate crimes shaping up to make 2021 the worst year on record for murders of transgender people—mostly trans women of color.

In her Instagram post, Gadsby made it clear she did not appreciate being used as a prop for his attempt to save face.

"Hey Ted Sarandos! Just a quick note to let you know that I would prefer if you didn't drag my name into your mess."
"You didn't pay me nearly enough to deal with the real world consequences of the hate speech dog whistling you refuse to acknowledge, Ted."
F**k you and your amoral algorithm cult … I do shits with more back bone than you."
"That's just a joke! I definitely didn't cross a line because you just told the world there isn't one."

On Twitter, many people applauded Gadsby for so bluntly speaking truth to power.











Gadsby's two critically acclaimed Netflix specials, Nanette and Douglas, are among the streamer's most celebrated comedy releases.

Gadsby won an Emmy for the former in 2019.

More from News/lgbtq

Nathan Lane
The Howard Stern Show/YouTube

Nathan Lane Opens Up About The Devastating Thing His Mom Said To Him When He Came Out As Gay

There are two types of people when it comes to first becoming acquainted with Nathan Lane: they either immediately assume that he's gay, or they assume he is a really good actor.

With some of his top achievements being The Birdcage, The Producers, Modern Family, and The Lion King, Nathan Lane is both. He's an incredible, immersive, and funny actor, but when it comes to his being gay, he's said in interview after interview that it's something he just assumes "everybody knows" about him.

Keep ReadingShow less
screenshot of Fox News interview with Karoline Leavitt before White House Correspondents Dinner
Fox News

Karoline Leavitt Made An Awkwardly Prescient Joke About The Correspondents' Dinner Before The Shooting

By now, most people are aware that a man reportedly armed with a shotgun, a handgun, and knives was able to gain access to the venue, the Washington Hilton hotel, where the White House Correspondents Dinner was taking place.

This was to be the first time MAGA Republican President Donald Trump was to ever attend the event as a sitting President. Trump had attended previously in 2011 and 2015 during Democratic President Barack Obama's presidency.

Keep ReadingShow less
Elizabeth Smart accepting an award
Frazer Harrison / Staff/Getty Images

Elizabeth Smart Reveals Her Pivot To Bodybuilding With Photo Of Her Ripped Body—And People Are Impressed

After enduring a truly horrific kidnapping experience that no one deserves to be put through, Elizabeth Smart has gone on to achieve several noteworthy accomplishments.

The child-safety activist has published numerous books, been honored with several awards, was the subject of an acclaimed Netflix documentary, and even competed on the short-lived Fox reality competition The Masked Dancer.

Keep ReadingShow less
AI-generated MAGA influencer Emily Hart
@emily_hart.nurse/Instagram

Man In India Reveals He Conned 'Super Dumb' MAGA Fans Into Paying For His Med School With Fake AI Influencer

There's a sucker born every minute, as the saying goes, and the AI revolution seems to have increased that rate exponentially—especially where MAGA is concerned.

A man in India recently shared with Wired that he's made so much money scamming MAGA devotees using AI that he now has enough to go to medical school.

Keep ReadingShow less
Donald Trump
Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

Trump's Dismissive Reaction To Concerns About Insider Trading Amid His War With Iran Speaks Infuriating Volumes

In an article for CounterPunch titled "Trump’s Casino Royale: The Iran War," Matthew Stevenson wrote:

"Given that Donald Trump conceives of the presidency as a casino—why else would he be trying to makeover the White House to look like the Bellagio?—it makes sense that his administration has turned the war with Iran into an insider-trading scheme."
"It used to be that wars were fought to make 'the world safe for democracy' or 'to end all wars' (a World War I expression), but now wars are fought so that Trump insiders can get rich quick in prediction markets or to help the president’s family (and its remittance men) corner the Persian Gulf oil market."

Pointing out who is profiting off inflating oil prices and creating false scarcity, Stevenson added:

Keep ReadingShow less