The 2021 Netflix walkout was a labor dispute involving a number of workers at American streaming and production company Netflix in late 2021. After several workers spoke out against The Closer , a controversial stand-up comedy special released by Netflix, the company's response sparked further controversy, leading to a walkout organized by the Netflix trans employee resource group.
During the four-year period of 2017–2020, GLAAD's annual Studio Responsibility Index found that major studios had produced no films with transgender or nonbinary characters. [1] In 2012, GLAAD reviewed 102 episodes and storylines of scripted television containing transgender characters, finding that "54% of those were categorized as containing negative representations at the time of their airing" while another 35% ranged from "problematic" to "good," with only 12% considered "groundbreaking, fair and accurate" to such an extent that they could win a GLAAD Media Award. [2]
Research has found that viewing multiple transgender TV characters and stories improves viewers' attitudes toward transgender people and related policies. [3] [ failed verification ]
The Closer is a 2021 stand-up comedy special written and performed by Dave Chappelle for Netflix. In the special, released on October 5, 2021, Chappelle has segments that joke about the discrimination against the African-American community relative to the discrimination against the LGBTQ community, including one where he states that he is "Team TERF." The special sparked controversy, receiving heavy criticism for the comments perceived as transphobic and racist. GLAAD issued a statement saying that Chappelle's "brand has become synonymous with ridiculing trans people and other marginalized communities." [4] David Johns, the executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition, released a statement asking Netflix to remove The Closer from its service, saying that "[p]erpetuating transphobia perpetuates violence." [5]
On October 7, Netflix suspended Terra Field, a trans employee, after she posted a Twitter thread stating that "we launched another Chappelle special where he attacks the trans community, and the very validity of transness – all while trying to pit us against other marginalized groups" which went viral. Netflix alleged that Field, as well as two other employees, had attempted to gain access to a director-level meeting without permission. [6] Dear White People writer Jaclyn Moore additionally announced that she would no longer collaborate with Netflix, stating the company continues to "put out and profit from blatantly and dangerously homophobic content." [7]
On October 8, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos defended the special's release in a memo sent to employees, saying that "[w]e don't allow titles on Netflix that are designed to incite hate or violence, and we don't believe The Closer crosses that line." [8]
Following Sarandos' statement, the trans employee resource group at Netflix announced they would stage a walkout on October 20, stating in a message that the streaming company had failed them "by repeatedly releasing content that harms the Trans community and continually failing to create content that represents and uplifts Trans content." [9] That day, Field and the two other employees who had been suspended were reinstated.
Soon after the employee resource group's threat of a walkout, Sarandos defended the special once again in a company-wide email saying "[w]ith 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.)" and that "[w]hile some employees disagree, we have a strong belief that content on screen doesn't directly translate to real-world harm". [10] [11] On October 15, it was reported that Netflix had fired one of the lead organizers of the walkout, a Black trans person who is pregnant, allegedly for leaking nonpublic financial information to Bloomberg News. [12] [13] [14]
On October 18, the Trans Employee Resource Group within Netflix released a list of changes they wanted to see the company make, including:
On October 19, Sarandos stated in an interview with Variety that there was "a group of employees who were definitely feeling pain and hurt from a decision we made" and that his internal responses to the situation "should have led with a lot more humanity." [16] [17]
On October 20, at around 10:30 a.m., Netflix workers began walking off the job. [18] Workers who were working from home also joined the walkout, logging out of virtual workplaces. [19] A rally was held outside of Netflix's offices in Los Angeles, attracting only ten to thirty Netflix staff and supporters. Journalist Ashlee Marie Preston gave a speech at the rally, stating that "there is this manipulation of algorithmic science that distorts the way that we perceive ourselves and others. And I think that companies like Netflix, Facebook, and Instagram, they play into it, and they monetize on it." A small number of counter-protestors also showed up to the rally, including some who chanted anti-trans slogans. [20] [21]
On October 29, B. Pagels-Minor and Terra Field announced that they would be filing unfair labor practice charges against Netflix with the National Labor Relations Board, alleging that Netflix retaliated against them for attempting to improve working conditions within the company. [22] On November 22, Field announced that she was resigning from Netflix. That same date, the lawyer for Pagels-Minor and Field stated "My clients have resolved their differences with Netflix and will be voluntarily withdrawing their NLRB charge". [23]
A number of prominent filmmakers spoke out in support of the walkout, including Elliot Page, Lilly Wachowski, Billy Eichner, Mason Alexander Park, and Angelica Ross. [24] [25] Comedian Hannah Gadsby condemned Sarandos for drawing her name into the controversy, calling Netflix an "amoral algorithm cult." [26] Writing for USA Today, filmmaker Leigh Finke criticized Netflix for portraying itself as "a neutral entity in politics and culture, they'd have us believe. They're working in a vacuum where art exists unto itself, incapable of real-world harm." [27]
A number of commentators saw the walkout as part of a growing labor rights movement within the American tech sector. [28] [29] Alan Hyde of Rutgers Law School stated that the walkout was part of a trend of tech workers reclaiming more say in the activities of the company they work for, pointing to the ongoing Striketober and stating that "they want to have a say in the kinds of businesses their company does, the kind of workplace culture they have, who the clients are." [30] Veena Dubal of the University of California, Hastings stated that "three years ago, a worker walkout at a major tech company would have been unthinkable" and that the walkout demonstrated that white-collar workers now understood "their ability to change the unethical practices of their employer by withholding their labor". [31]
GLAAD is an American non-governmental media monitoring organization. Originally founded as a protest against defamatory coverage of gay and lesbian demographics and their portrayals in the media and entertainment industries, it has since expanded to queer, bisexual, and transgender people.
David Khari Webber Chappelle is an American stand-up comedian and actor. He starred in and co-created the satirical comedy sketch series Chappelle's Show (2003–2006) before quitting in the middle of production during the third season. After a hiatus, Chappelle returned to performing stand-up comedy across the U.S. By 2006, Chappelle was called the "comic genius of America" by Esquire and, in 2013, "the best" by a Billboard writer. In 2017, Rolling Stone ranked him No. 9 in their "50 Best Stand Up Comics of All Time".
Graham George Linehan is an Irish comedy writer and anti-transgender activist. He created or co-created the sitcoms Father Ted (1995–1998), Black Books (2000–2004), and The IT Crowd (2006–2013), and he has written for shows including Count Arthur Strong, Brass Eye and The Fast Show. Early in his career, he partnered with the writer Arthur Mathews. Linehan has won five BAFTA awards, including Best Writer, Comedy, for The IT Crowd in 2014.
Theodore Anthony Sarandos Jr. is an American businessman who is the co-chief executive officer of Netflix.
Netflix is a subscription streaming service owned by the American company Netflix, Inc. Launched on August 29, 1997, it initially offered DVD rental and sale by mail, but the sales were eliminated within a year to focus on the DVD rental business. In 2007, the company began transitioning to its current subscription streaming model. Since its launch, the company was subject to numerous criticisms, the basis of which range from its business practices and workplace culture to issues with the service it provides, including content issues, lack of close captioning and pricing. This article provides an overview of key criticisms the company has faced.
Sticks & Stones is a 2019 American stand-up comedy television special starring comedian Dave Chappelle and directed by Stan Lathan. It was produced by Chappelle and Lathan and distributed by Netflix, the special is detailed as "a provocative perspective on the tidal wave of celebrity scandals, the opioid crisis, and more".
Tensions between the multinational technology company Google and its workers escalated in 2018 and 2019 as staff protested company decisions on a censored search engine for China, a military drone artificial intelligence, and internal sexual harassment.
8:46 is a 2020 performance special by American comedian Dave Chappelle about violence against African Americans. The special was released via YouTube on June 12, 2020. The performance is not a traditional stand-up comedy special, as it was recorded at a private outdoor venue due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Ohio and features long stretches without humor. Critical consensus was positive for the comedy and the social commentary.
Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters is a 2020 book by Abigail Shrier, published by Regnery Publishing, which endorses the controversial concept of rapid-onset gender dysphoria (ROGD). ROGD is not recognized as a medical diagnosis by any major professional institution nor is it backed by credible scientific evidence.
Ifeoma Ozoma is an American public policy specialist and technology industry equity advocate. After two years working on public policy at Pinterest, Ozoma resigned and spoke out about mistreatment and racial discrimination she alleged she had experienced at the company. She subsequently began a consulting firm called Earthseed, and has worked to advocate for whistleblower protection legislation and other worker protections in the technology industry. She is the director of tech accountability at the University of California, LA Center on Race and Digital Justice.
A tech union is a trade union for tech workers typically employed in high tech or information and communications technology sectors. Due to the evolving nature of technology and work, different government agencies have conflicting definitions for who is a tech worker. Most definitions include computer scientists, people working in IT, telecommunications, media and video gaming. Broader definitions include all workers required for a tech company to operate, including on-site service staff, contractors, and platform economy workers.
Alphabet Workers Union (AWU), also informally referred to as the Google Union, is an American trade union of workers employed at Alphabet Inc., Google's parent company, with a membership of over 800, in a company with 130,000 employees, not including temps, contractors, and vendors in the United States. It was announced on January 4, 2021 with an initial membership of over 400, after over a year of secret organizing, and the union includes all types of workers at Alphabet, including full-time, temporary, vendors and contractors of all job types.
The Campaign to Organize Digital Employees or CODE-CWA is a project launched by the Communications Workers of America to unionize tech and video game workers in January 2020. It sprung out of conversations with Game Workers Unite (GWU) and employed at least two full time staff, including GWU co-founder Emma Kinema and veteran SEIU organizer Wes McEnany. In 2022, Jessica Gonzalez joined, a former Activision Blizzard QA tester.
Apple Inc. workers around the globe have been involved in organizing since the 1990s. Apple unions are made up of retail, corporate, and outsourced workers. Apple employees have joined trade unions and or formed works councils in Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the United Kingdom and the United States.
The Closer is a 2021 American stand-up comedy special written and performed by Dave Chappelle for Netflix. It was directed by Stan Lathan and recorded over the course of seven sold-out performances at The Fillmore Detroit, which ran from August 10 to 15, 2021. The Closer is Chappelle's sixth and final special under his 2016 deal with Netflix, with the other five being Deep in the Heart of Texas, The Age of Spin, Equanimity, The Bird Revelation and Sticks & Stones.
Ashley Gjøvik is an American program manager and activist who is known for her labor complaints against Apple Inc. Gjøvik was terminated in 2021 by Apple for allegedly leaking confidential intellectual property, which she denied. Gjøvik alleged her firing was retaliation for speaking out against the company.
Liz Fong-Jones is a site reliability engineer and developer advocate known for labor activism with her contributions to the Never Again pledge and her role in leading Google worker organization efforts. She is the president of the board of directors of the Solidarity Fund by Coworker, which she seeded with her own money. She is Honeycomb's field Chief Technology Officer.
Transphobia in the United States has changed over time. Understanding and acceptance of transgender people have both decreased and increased during the last few decades depending on the details of the issues which have been facing the public. Various governmental bodies in the United States have enacted anti-transgender legislation. Social issues in the United States also reveal a level of transphobia. Because of transphobia, transgender people in the U.S. face increased levels of violence and intimidation. Cisgender people can also be affected by transphobia.
B. Pagels-Minor is an American technology product advisor, business consultant and LGBTQ rights activist.
Mx. Dahlia Belle is an American comedian and writer based in Portland, Oregon.
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