Netflix’s Ted Sarandos Says He “Screwed Up,” But Still Stands By Dave Chappelle’s ‘The Closer’

Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos is addressing the controversy around the streamer’s new Dave Chappelle stand-up special The Closer, as well as his communications to staff about the resulting backlash. Ahead of staffers’ planned walkout and rally today, Sarandos told The Hollywood Reporter that he “screwed up” in the handling of employee concerns surrounding Chappelle’s derogatory comments about the trans community.

“I should have acknowledged [in leaked staff memos] that a group of our employees were in pain, and they were really feeling hurt from a business decision that we made,” he said. “And I, instead of acknowledging that first, I went right into some rationales… I’d say those emails lacked humanity.”

Last week, Sarandos faced backlash for telling employees that “we have a strong belief that content on screen doesn’t directly translate to real-world harm,” although the Netflix documentary Disclosure — which traces how Hollywood’s depiction of trans people has directly impacted the trans community — argues the opposite.

When asked about the list of demands the trans employee resource group are expected to present him, the co-CEO reiterated to Variety that Netflix aims to support talents’ “creative freedom and artistic expression” — even if people find some content on the streamer harmful. “Where we’ll definitely draw the line is on something that would intentionally call for physically harming other people,” he said. His comments come after the Human Rights’ Campaign’s 2020 report recorded a record number of violent deaths suffered by trans and gender nonconforming people, the highest rate since the group began tracking these deaths in 2013.

While speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Sarandos argued that working from home hasn’t allowed many employees to experience the “reinforcement of the allyship that the company has towards the LGBTQ+ community, including massive investment in content and creators and storytellers to represent LGBTQ+ stories.”

“This group of employees felt a little betrayed because we’ve created such a great place to work that they forgot that sometimes these challenges will come up,” he added.

Amid the controversy surrounding The Closer, Netflix suspended three since-reinstated employees who crashed an executive meeting (including trans employee Terra Field, who previously spoke out against the special on Twitter) and fired a Black, pregnant organizer of the walkout for reportedly leaking confidential financial data to Bloomberg.

The “Stand Up in Solidarity” walkout is planned for Wednesday at 10:30 a.m. PT, outside of Netflix’s Hollywood headquarters. Apart from presenting Sarandos with a list of demands, Deadline reports that organizers will present a public service announcement delivered by celebrities who have worked with the streamer (such as Angelica Ross, Jonathan Van Ness, and Jameela Jamil).

“We shouldn’t have to show up quarterly/annually to push back against harmful content that negatively impacts vulnerable communities,” organizer Ashlee Marie Preston wrote on Instagram. “Instead, we aim to use this moment to shift the social ecology around what Netflix leadership deems ethical entertainment.”