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Netflix Exec Ted Sarandos Defends David Chapelle’s The Closer And Calls It 'Artistic Freedom'


Credit: Netflix

Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos is under fire after he publicly announced that he is siding with David Chapelle and his controversial special, The Closer. According to recent reports, Sarandros published a memo, addressing the backlash Netflix has gotten for not taking down Chapelle's show that has a number of anti-LGBTQ+ jokes.

Ted Sarandos Claims Chapelle's The Closer Doesn't Cross The 'Line On Hate'

In Ted Sarandos' memo, he explained that David Chapelles Netflix special, The Closer, is in no way designed to incite hate or violence. The Netflix exec further shared that he views this as artistic freedom from the seasoned stand-up comedian, saying that there is a different standard in the world of comedy.

Sarandos shared that The Closer did not cross the line drawn by the company regarding hate, hate speech, and such. He wrote in his memo:

"We don't allow titles Netflix that are designed to incite hate or violence, and we don't believe The Closer crosses that line. I recognize, however, that distinguishing between commentary and harm is hard, especially with stand-up comedy which exists to push boundaries. Some people find the art of stand-up to be mean-spirited but our members enjoy it, and it's an important part of our content offering."

He further defended the special by putting his foot down and publicly announcing that Netflix will not remove David Chapelle's The Closer from the streaming platform. Read the Sarados' full memo here.

Netflix Suspending Employees Over Chapelle Controversy

Meanwhile, reports have it that the streaming giant has recently suspended three employees after they stood up to the company regarding defending David Chapelle's special called The Closer.

San Francisco-based senior software engineer Terra Field, who identifies as queer and trans, is among the three employees who got suspended. It was claimed these staff members attended a virtual meeting despite being not invited.

Field, who took to Twitter to lambast Chapelle's for show being anti-trans, claimed that her tweets were among the reasons behind her suspension. Netflix has yet to release a statement regarding this issue.

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