Netflix Suspends Trans Employee Who Spoke Out Against Dave Chappelles Special

Netflix has suspended a transgender employee who publicly criticized transphobic jokes that comedian Dave Chappelle made in his new stand-up special The Closer, as well as two other unidentified Netflix employees.

One of the suspended employees, Terra Field, a senior software engineer who identifies as queer and trans, tweeted Wednesday in a viral thread that Chappelle attacks the trans community, and the very validity of transness.

I work at @netflix. Yesterday 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. You're going to hear a lot of talk about \"offense\".

We are not offended

Terra Field (@RainofTerra) October 7, 2021","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Terra Field","author_url":"https://twitter.com/RainofTerra","cache_age":86400,"description":"I work at @netflix. Yesterday 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. You're going to hear a lot of talk about \"offense\".We are not offended Terra Field (@RainofTerra) October 7, 2021\n\n","options":{"_maxwidth":{"label":"Adjust width","placeholder":"220-550, in px","value":""},"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","title":"Terra Field on 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I work at @netflix . Yesterday 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. You're going to hear a lot of talk about "offense".

We are not offended
Terra Field (@RainofTerra) October 7, 2021

Explaining why the word offended minimized why people objected to Chappelles jokes, Field wrote that trans peoples existence is funny to [Chappelle]and when we object to his harm, were offended.

Then she added: What we object to is the harm that content like this does to the trans community (especially trans people of color) and VERY specifically Black trans women.

At the end of her thread, Field listed the names of transgender and gender-nonconforming people who have been killed this year, citing the Human Rights Campaign .

Netflix told NBC News that Field was not reprimanded for her tweets about Chappelle, but that she was suspended for a separate incident that occurred last week.

It is absolutely untrue to say that we have suspended any employees for tweeting about this show, a Netflix spokesperson told NBC. Our employees are encouraged to disagree openly, and we support their right to do so.

Sources told Variety that Field and the two other employees were suspended for attending a two-day virtual gathering of Netflixs top executives without being invited. The company had reportedly launched an investigation into the incident and the three employees.

Netflix and Field did not immediately respond to HuffPosts request for comment.

It is unclear if Field and the others spoke out at the meeting about the streamer giving Chappelle a platform to spread transphobia and homophobia. But prior to her suspension, Field published a tweet thanking Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos for leading a company where an engineer can give them (or anyone else) feedback on what theyre doing and actually expect a thoughtful response, and for enabling us to make Netflix a great place for trans people to work.

Field joked on Monday, and presumably after her suspension, that her tweet praising Sarandos had aged badly.

I would like to humbly submit this tweet of mine from last week to @PoorlyAgedStuff: https://t.co/stsKwN1Hxm

Terra Field (@RainofTerra) October 11, 2021","type":"rich","meta":{"author":"Terra Field","author_url":"https://twitter.com/RainofTerra","cache_age":86400,"description":"I would like to humbly submit this tweet of mine from last week to @PoorlyAgedStuff: https://t.co/stsKwN1Hxm Terra Field (@RainofTerra) October 11, 2021\n\n","options":{"_hide_media":{"label":"Hide photos, videos, and cards","value":false},"_maxwidth":{"label":"Adjust width","placeholder":"220-550, in px","value":""},"_theme":{"value":"","values":{"dark":"Use dark theme"}}},"provider_name":"Twitter","title":"Terra Field on 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I would like to humbly submit this tweet of mine from last week to @PoorlyAgedStuff : https://t.co/stsKwN1Hxm
Terra Field (@RainofTerra) October 11, 2021

Chappelle received significant backlash last week from the LGBTQ community and allies for jokes he made in The Closer. The National Black Justice Coalition, a civil rights advocacy group, issued a statement that urged Netflix to pull the special.

In the special, Chappelle defended offensive comments about trans people by Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling.

Effectually she said gender was a fact, the trans community got mad as shit, they started calling her a TERF, Chappelle said, referring to the acronym for trans-exclusionary radical feminists, whose views about gender are seen as anti-trans.

Im team TERF, he added before agreeing that gender is a fact and comparing trans womens bodies to plant-based meat products.

Chappelles joke wrongly conflates gender and sex. Gender is your own, internal, personal sense of being a man or a woman (or as someone outside of that gender binary), according to GLAAD , while sex typically refers to a persons biological characteristics.

Netflix has defended Chappelles special. Sarandos told managers in an internal memo obtained by Variety that Chappelles special does not cross the line on hate and will remain on the streaming service.

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Chappelle has also responded to the criticism . During an event last week in which the comedian screened a new documentary and received a standing ovation, he said: If this is what being canceled is like, I love it.