In the wake of fallout from Dave Chappelle's most recent special, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos sent a memo to his company addressing the issue.
In response to employees planning to stage a walkout protest, Sarandos claimed that what they produce doesn't "translate to real-world harm."
This didn't seem to sit well with the internet when the missive was shared with Variety.
Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos is doubling down on his defense of Dave Chappelle following the mounting controversy around his latest comedy special: \u201cWe have a strong belief that content on screen doesn\u2019t directly translate to real-world harm.\u201d https://bit.ly/3lKZh7b\u00a0pic.twitter.com/Zf1FBUT44y— Variety (@Variety) 1634172911
Sarandos spoke with top leadership in the company before sending the email on Monday, October 11th to the entire company. He hoped to prevent an employee protest over the Dave Chappelle special, The Closer.
In his letter, he said:
"We know that a number of you have been left angry, disappointed and hurt by our decision to put Dave Chappelle's latest special on Netflix."
"With 'The Closer,' we understand that the concern is not about offensive-to-some content but titles which could increase real world harm (such as further marginalizing already marginalized groups, hate, violence etc.)"
"Last year, we heard similar concerns about 365 Days and violence against women. While some employees disagree, we have a strong belief that content on screen doesn't directly translate to real-world harm."
Despite this claim, research shows that aggression from media translates to higher aggression in a person. It's not a one-to-one translation, but there are statistically significant short-term and long-term effects of violent media.
Of which, people were quick to remind Sarandos.
\u201cWe have a strong belief that content on screen doesn\u2019t directly translate to real-world harm.\u201d\n\nThis is provably untrue but whatever— ABNORMALLY SPOOKY V\u018eX (@ABNORMALLY SPOOKY V\u018eX) 1634215710
Netflix is telling you, the viewer, that your feelings and experiences do not matter to them, they just want you to subscribe and watch. \n\nIf you were ever directly harmed as a result of stereotypes that were imposed on you, consider cancelling your Netflix account for a month.— Tech TAM (@Tech TAM) 1634178302
Just look at all the anti-trans comments in this thread and others about this bs. No real world effects lol.— stranded \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08\ud83e\udd72 (@stranded \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08\ud83e\udd72) 1634187131
He spent like 1/3 of the special being as offensive as he could manage to trans people because he knew it would make him money.— LV426 (@LV426) 1634228991
That's very easy for Ted Sarandos to say when the "real world harm" doesn't directly affect him or cis people.https://twitter.com/Variety/status/1448452291292327936\u00a0\u2026— Vanessa Clark (@Vanessa Clark) 1634174747
Saving this for future use.— Haleyween \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f \ud83d\udc7b (@Haleyween \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f \ud83d\udc7b) 1634177102
Dave Chappelle's special had a series of jokes at the expense of the LGBTQ community, and defenses of homophobic rapper DaBaby. He also defended J.K. Rowling for her bigoted comments on sex and gender, and declared himself "Team TERF."
Probably the most incendiary thing Chappelle did was pit the issues and controversies experienced by the Black community, especially Black men, against the bigotry experienced by the LGBTQ+ people.
Advocacy groups such as GLAAD and the National Black Justice Coalition released statements condemning the special.
Someone needs to tell Sarandos that there's nothing there to defend.
now let me take a nice sip of water and read this article about this piece of media called "birth of a nation" which i have been assured had zero real-world impact whatsoever— \ud83e\udd87\u2728bat gem\u2728\ud83e\udd87 (@\ud83e\udd87\u2728bat gem\u2728\ud83e\udd87) 1634177481
"It's just jokes"pic.twitter.com/j4ziCCzxYq— Voodoo Pork (@Voodoo Pork) 1634218030
Allowing a culture of transphobia to fester caused this so yes.— \ud83c\udff4egirl Cthulhu \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f (@\ud83c\udff4egirl Cthulhu \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\u26a7\ufe0f) 1634226696
Comedy specials have molded our media landscape for decades. The exceptive nature of "jokes just being jokes'' is what allows many comedians to continue to push harmful ideologies. The problem with these jokes is that they have tangible consequences.— Feminist Frequency (@Feminist Frequency) 1634256516
Netflix literally has a documentary on how media does EXACTLY that. Its called "Disclosure"— I forgot about this account (@I forgot about this account) 1634225763
First, there's this. Marginalized groups, which include racial minorities, women, religious minorities and LGBTQ people, are impacted when hate disguised as humor is allowed to fester.https://theconversation.com/psychology-behind-the-unfunny-consequences-of-jokes-that-denigrate-63855\u00a0\u2026— Allie (AlleyKatArt) \ud83c\udf83\ud83c\udf42\ud83d\udc7b\ud83e\udd87 (@Allie (AlleyKatArt) \ud83c\udf83\ud83c\udf42\ud83d\udc7b\ud83e\udd87) 1634204497
Netflix employees are planning a walkout protest on October 20th. A Trans employee resource group is arranging the protest because of the comedy special.
@GovPressOffice/X
