Dave Chappelle Defended By Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos

Ted Sarandos, while addressing his employees, spoke about his stance on the question of what his take is on the Dave Chappelle controversy. In brief, he thinks Dave didn’t do anything wrong.

He stated that comedic freedom or freedom of artistic expression is important and, as such makes it necessary to view Dave’s jokes in that light. Clearing the air on the ‘cancel culture’ witch-hunt question of if whether Dave Chappelle should be cancelled or even face scrutiny for it, Sarandos made it clear it’s out of the question. The memo was first reported by Variety.

Several of you have also asked where we draw the line on hate. 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.

In fact, a few Netflix employees were suspended for expressing outrage on the issue. According to Sarandos, the outrage was a problem more on the managerial front if at all and should’ve been handled by their respective superiors.

Needless to say, Netflix has an extremely strong front on the issue of being supportive towards the LGBTQ+ community. Seeing how the jokes Chappelle made were on how thin-skinned, he thinks people from the LGBTQ+ community are, makes this a rather contemporary and precarious situation.

What’s your take on this story? Sound off in the comments!