‘I Screwed Up’: Netflix’s Ted Sarandos Addresses Dave Chappelle Fallout

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Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos says he 'should have led with a lot more humanity' in his internal communication about Dave Chappelle's 'The Closer'

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: Obviously, I screwed up that internal communication. I did that, and I screwed it up in two ways. First and foremost, I should have led with a lot more humanity. Meaning, I had a group of employees who were definitely feeling pain and hurt from a decision we made. And I think that needs to be acknowledged up front before you get into the nuts and bolts of anything. I didn’t do that.

I want to circle back and ask definitively, do you personally and does Netflix feel that “The Closer” does not amount to hate speech? I’ve spent the past couple of days listening to folks and sitting down with folks, about where they’re at and how they’re feeling and what they’d like to see moving forward. I’m continuing to do that now. One of the things that I think is very important that I want people to understand is that, going forward, it should be really clear that I support artistic freedom and the creators that work at Netflix.

We have a creative equity fund that we’ve heavily invested in exactly the things I believe they are asking about. We have and continue to invest enormous amounts of content dollars in LGBTQ+ stories for the world and giving them a global platform. Specifically, trans and non-binary content as well. That’s obviously continued strong, and I think we’ll continue on that path.

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SaraRamirez Thank you Netflix, for standing agaisnt cancel culture bullies.

AshleeMPreston People need to get over it. We are creating larger internal battles in this country, that we don’t see what’s happening outside of it. Talk about real danger. Stop being self centered and start living.

Meh. Paying the frauds Haz & Megain pisses me off more than truth teller Chapelle everrr will.

AshleeMPreston AshleeMarieRacist AshleeMarieRacist AshleeMarieRacist AshleeMarieRacist AshleeMarieRacist AshleeMarieRacist AshleeMarieRacist AshleeMarieRacist AshleeMarieRacist AshleeMarieRacist AshleeMarieRacist AshleeMarieRacist AshleeMarieRacist AshleeMarieRacist

AshleeMPreston cancelashleepreston for her racist tweets against the Latino and Asian community ..

AshleeMPreston cancelashleepreston for her racist tweets against the Latino and Asian community

AshleeMPreston Does Ted know about this⬇

AshleeMPreston You didn't screw up. Chapelle is great

AshleeMPreston And AshleeMPreston shouldn’t have called me and mine “faggots” on meth or not.

AshleeMPreston Printed receipts on this bitch:

The initial response was perfect show of empathy and leadership. The follow up is the exact opposite.

AshleeMPreston This. Is. Amazing. karma netflix chappelle AshleeMariePreston hypocrite WokeBS woke WokeInsanity Cc: ashleempreston

AshleeMPreston Clean up on aisle 5! Hate has no place on Netflix. Period.

Netflix Quartering YellowFlashGuy Kneon HAWTToys LunarArchivist Dataracer117 Midnights_Edge ThatUmbrella This is the same anti-transgender/racist bigot running the Anti-Dave Chapelle Netflix walkout.

When trans people are being murdered every day, and Netflix contributes to that level of hatred, your apology is NOT accepted.

Quit apologizing.

Dave Chapelle is the MAN!

“In our country, you can shoot and kill a n***a, but you better not hurt a gay person’s feelings,” - Dave Chappelle...this quote alone describes this whole situation.

It was a powerful show with a great message If you were too stupid to appreciate it, well, take your ass back to school

I remember when bosses were in charge. Now they’re pussies. We’re doomed as an economy.

Here's the thing about all of this BS. Netflix puts out a lot of content on it's platform which some people agree with and some people don't. I don't watch certain things. That's my choice or hit a thumbs down. Here you find an unfair group of people who want to dictate to others

Eerrrrrrrr Na

ted nor dave did anything wrong

I dont care.

Stand your ground NETFLIX! LGBTQ Folks need to grow up, lighten up, and get a sense of humor! Fire them all!

The compassion Dave exhibited during his show, The Closer, was heartfelt. I would suggest those shaming him watch the show now before throwing anymore shade.

This walk-out is dumb if you don't like it then don't watch it. it doesn't get any simpler than that

I liked it, but I would have preferred more humor and less speechifying.

Oh yeh, more humanity? Do you even know what humanity means? How about mocking a victim of systemic domestic abuse Johnny Depp in a recent piece of animated trash? BoycottNetflix JusticeForJohnnyDepp

Damn, guess we got our hopes up thinking someone in a position of power was going to stand up to the fascist mob and their thought-crime stormtroopers. Oh well, guess the crybabies win another one. Cry loud enough and you will be removed from your crib and stroked back to sleep.

Hell at this point we might want to question if he’s trans too. Cause he sure as hell ain’t got no balls🤣🤣

Interesting to me that him, Nick Cannon, Kevin Hart and several others all seem to get a pass for hateful things they say—- they get to not apologize, or they say sorry and tell people to get over it and it’s accepted —

And he now makes words with his face but doesn't follow up with policy of any kind.

Dave asks in his special 'is it possible that a gay person can be a racist?'

netflix there are plenty of people that need jobs right now. If these employees don’t want to work at Netflix anymore…. girl bye!

Humans shouldn’t need to remind themselves to act with humanity.

Bend the knee once, and you’ll never stop. Enjoy life on your knees.

He shouldn't apologize for anything. Trans people like to attack everyone who holds different opinions than them. This has to stop. They asked for diversity but at the same time they want everyone to agree on everything they 'feel'.

I guess if you're white there's no room to make mistakes, is that it?

It was funny! love Chapelle. He speaks truth and puts a funny spin on it.

Yes he screwed up. There’s still time to get it right.

crkegglane Translation: I should have hidden my racism better.

Stop with apologizes...no need to. I assume cancel culture is out to have you fired now....grow up people.

Humanity is not a bad thing, and I agree. But we need more balance when it comes to trans agenda. Male fetishes should not prioritize women’s rights or safety. There is a difference between homosexual transsexuals, and middle aged autogynephilia. We need to use discernment.

Wtf its comedy! That's the whole point! I'm pro-trans & supportive of the LGBTQ community but this is ridiculous. It's satirical that makes fun of literally every culture, skin colour, gender, & anything under the sun. Stop making everyone walk on eggshells.

This was a pretty terrible say nothing response he had here.

The question I ask is if this is genuine or just a move to save business? How much of this is just fear of 'being canceled'? This is amusing because this is a point in Chappelle's special. Of course its whooshing over everyone's heads though.

He did nothing wrong. The outrage mob wants to outrage and that's the whole story. Ted, fire them all.

You think?

If it was one or two FUNNY jokes, it would've been fine, but it was a full 37 minutes out of an hour long special dedicated to the trans subject, bordering on full anger and scapegoating at times. (i like a good taboo humor sometimes but this went overboard by far)

Done with the people who cried wolf

He's fine he stood by his companies content and its talent. That's something lacking into today's throw the talent and the content creators under the bus anytime some keyboard warrior screams about a boycott. His employees have made a living off their executives decisions

CancelNetflix … until netflix gets that TransRightsAreHumanRights translivesmatter & hey how about paying creators their worth (looking at SquidGames) … there is FAR better streaming content out there. NetflixWalkout

Ted Sarandos needs to grow a spine

Film the walk out and then show it on Netflix. Then sack the strikers and replace them.

umm, more than a screwup. Great for him that he lives in such a privileged world that 'words' don't affect his personal safety. Enough with all this bullying. We responsible parents are sick and tired of white men making excuses for not taking care of communities.

So totally cucked out LMAO

lgbt trying to kill comedy to? damn

easily replaceable employees, but cant replace Dave Chapplle

Good comedians punch up not down. Good companies support their employees and customers. Good people understand and appreciate why.

Nothing will become of this. Do most of y'all still own Harry Potter books? You think a publisher will reject or stop printing her books? I missed the mass burnings. Has amazon, barnes and nobles? Some people/brands are too powerful. Walkout? Quit. They're Netflix, not Quibi.

You did, now OWN it. Walk away from this. Drop this 'special' -- you are squandering decades of good will netflix

He shouldnt of said anything in the first place. Rich people arent the smartest, at best...

Does he realize he lacks 'humanity' when he fails to see how promoting transphobia and doubling down on it results in 'real life harm' to real life humans?

personally as a neighbor, I think they should have led with a lot more architectural integrity. HQ is an eyesore in the community.

He didn't screw up, he did the right thing and 90% of ppl would agree.

Most watched special ever. Thanks offended over a comic people for pushing Dave to a higher level

Get over it sensitive people. It’s cAlled comedy

Oh netflix it’s okay for Dave to talk jokes about black people and Asian people but it’s not okay to talk jokes about trans? Cmon!!!

No the world is soft don't apologize!

Fuck NetFlux !!!

Really netflix ?!? This is a show. This is a comedy. No one takes anything in heart for comedy. My daughter is a lesbian. My friends are trans and they all laugh at Dave chapelle cause they know it’s just a joke and it ain’t true. Sorry for what?!?

Jokes and social commentary bad but ultra violence like Squid Game okay 🤷🏼‍♂️

Chappelle The T’s ✌🏿

DC will need to hire an additional accountant to help him keep track of all the extra $$$$$ this is making for him. Well played, sir.

If he gives in he will only anger more people for coddling these lunatics

Don't let them bully you.q

Chappelle is the 21st Century George Carlin Lighten up0

Mhm.

These deals take months if not years to make happen. netflix CEO Ted Sarandos claiming he was caught off guard by the response is telling. Either he's lying or out of touch. Also, 'harm' is not an adequate measure. Lot's of bad people feign ignorance over intent. WTF.

heres a simple fix if you don't like something don't fucking watch it but stop telling others what they should or shouldn't like

The screwup was supporting Chappelle's bigotry, Ted.

Don't cave like a bitch

No, he should’ve told them all to go fuck themselves off the bat and we wouldn’t still be talking about this. Nobody should be required to pander to adults who behave like children.

Translation he got blowback so now he is sorry.

'As a white C-level suit, I'm astonished my arrogance was not well received.'

No you didn’t, Dave express his opinion! That’s how he feels! Question is how does Trans, Homosexual and other forms of gender feel about STRAIGHT people? THE SAME! They don’t like them either! Oh well, that’s like suck it up buttercup!

How many people actually watched Dave Chappelle's 'Closer'? Watched and *listened*.

Why is Variety doing PR for Netflix? How does the owner of one of the most watched media platforms not know that platforming xenophobic content leads to physical harm? He has multiple hit shows about this.

😬

Can we just try again with a new CEO? It seems like he’s lost the confidence of his team.

'a lot more' = any

Our society has morphed into conformity gone mad. How do we escape it?!

'Led with more humanity' misses the entirety of why people are mad at you, Ted. You picked a side, and shitcanned employees that spoke out. Congrats on being a case study for future PR people tho!

Fuck that asshole.

Transgender people don’t exist, we need more people like Dave Chappelle.

Ted Sarandos admits he is inhumane, got it

'Should have lead with more humanity' is that quote meant for us or for other rich folk with lizard brains. Empathy shouldn't be a technique, it's a feeling lol.

There is a very simple solution to all of this - If you have a problem with a show on Netflix then DON'T FUCKING WATCH IT. It's that simple. If you think that this special is hate speech or violence then you are a tool and need to face your own fragility. Period.

SaraRamirez Too little Too late Net Flix Its the bad publicity thats got you in spin mode. Nice Try

SaraRamirez Look, he was just following the bro code k?!

SaraRamirez “I should have been a lot nicer when I flipped marginalized people the bird and gaslit them about their own experiences with the kinds of transphobic garbage that came falling out of Chapelle’s mouth.” Still a swing and a miss, Netflix. Have fun with the walkout.

Somebody is paying for a crisis communications advisor…

Let the staff walk out and encourage them to keep walking. They need to hear the word “No” more often.

So now you feel like you could have done better……. toolate

He should have fucked right off and listened to the employees telling him money isn't everything.

The special was fire ..stop justifying your actions

The Closer was not just funny…it was incredibly poignant…people upset about it haven’t even watched it. Daphne would have loved it. RIP

Who cares what Dave Chappelle thinks? I like him but he's just some abstract entertainer to me. I like his amusing observations and the same goes for any of them. If Jerry Seinfeld endorses Nazism, I'm not joining the Nazi party. I don't care about celebs and neither should you.

Too late

Basically telling everyone who was upset to stuff off wasn't leading 'with humanity?' How much did they pay a media spinner to come up with that?

He lacks humanity if he really thinks hate speech = physically harming someone.

It’s COMEDY! Lighten the fuck up people. You’re taking the joy out of life. Laugh at yourselves… or look yourselves in the mirror and slap the shit out of yourselves.

Yeah 'I screwed up... But creative freedom, bro.' Anyways, empty words. No real action.

ugly

He literally used two slurs...I....

Because it doesn't

I don’t understand how saying “oh hey, gender is a fact” ‘hate speech’😭😭

Yeah the thing about CEOs though is that the job is communications and strategy and none of that matters because he's backing transphobia on his platform and there's no explanation that makes it good or right

He needs to resign.

FilmFatale_NYC

MattDonnelly

MattDonnelly The Closer is a masterpiece

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