At Netflix, a star and employees pressure a top executive over Dave Chappelle

Whether or not you agree with Netflix or not, they are being hypocritical and inconsistent. They went and removed a bunch of shows for having blackface last year (from what I can see, used typically or maybe always for comedy and often in a way that&#x27;s making fun of racism.) [1] Yet now their CEO is defending this new show and saying, &quot;Adults can watch violence, assault and abuse – or enjoy shocking stand-up comedy – without it causing them to harm others.&quot; [2]<p>If so, then why not re-add the previously censored content?<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.vulture.com&#x2F;2020&#x2F;06&#x2F;blackface-tv-episodes-scenes-removed-streaming.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.vulture.com&#x2F;2020&#x2F;06&#x2F;blackface-tv-episodes-scenes...</a><p>[2] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;variety.com&#x2F;2021&#x2F;film&#x2F;news&#x2F;ted-sarandos-dave-chappelle-defense-1235088647&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;variety.com&#x2F;2021&#x2F;film&#x2F;news&#x2F;ted-sarandos-dave-chappel...</a>

I think Dave has done a lot of good work at normalizing the Trans community through his jokes. He doesn&#x27;t punch down like some have asserted.<p>Even though I feel like this last special wasn&#x27;t great, at no point did I feel like he was Trans phobic or unkind. Does he go far? Absolutely, likely further than anyone else would dare go... But his jokes are his medium for making people think about societies deeper issues.<p>One of the best examples of this is &quot;how old is 15 really?&quot; (YouTube it).<p>While taking that sketch at face value or out of context it could be construed as a savage attack on a 15yr old girl who was the victim of a kidnapping. But anyone with half a brain should be able to deconstruct the underlying message and see what the real takeaway is. He shocks you first, then he makes you think.

Dear Netflix: please don&#x27;t cave to the faux outrage machine.

Its interesting to me that at one time the idea of separating politics and work used to be standard decorum.<p>I do think we as human beings obviously can not shut off our feelings, its important for companies to realize this and allow their employees to disagree and express themselves. In the end, its still up to employees to be mature about it.

Why do companies fear loud Twitter mobs or small groups of vocal activist employees? These companies can simply ignore them or fire them if they aren’t doing their job. It is best for tech companies to be politically neutral. After all, half the country and much of the world don’t hold progressive Bay Area views. Serving and representing them is just as important and employees need to maturely deal with it or quit.

Politics aside: how much operational and technical risk is staff walkout for companies like Netflix? Ie if 2% of their DevOps engineers leave immediately, would it create any noticeable operational&#x2F;technical effect for Netflix?

So in other words: Netflix will go on a hiring binge soon...<p>It may not be the truth some want to hear, but Netflix will likely be more than happy to identify &quot;troublemakers&quot; with this planned walkout, even if they&#x27;re fantastically productive otherwise.<p>Many C-suite see themselves as leaders &quot;going in to battle&quot; leading an &quot;army&quot;. The last things leaders tolerate in an army are deserters and overly objectionable types.

Dear Netflix: Please fire every single individual that walks out. There are thousands of individuals who have been rejected from roles at your company that would look at this situation in a rational light.

&gt; In a rare public rebuke, the Australian comedian Hannah Gadsby upbraided Mr. Sarandos by name for his defense of Mr. Chappelle.<p>Say what you want about the whole thing, but the two comedy shows with Hannah Gadsby on Netflix are _really_ good and I recommend everyone to watch them.

I wonder how much of a Streisand effect this is having on viewing figures of the Special.

if they cancel Dave Chappelle I cancel my Netflix subscription.