Ex-Netflix Staffer Reveals New Details About Chappelle-Inspired Walk-Out
One week before Netflix debuted Dave Chappelle’s incendiary comedy special The Closer—in which the comedian defended rapper DaBaby’s homophobic rant and backed J.K. Rowling amid controversy over her anti-trans remarks—former Netflix staffer B. Pagels-Minor recalls that they started to receive distressing messages from colleagues.
“I started getting messages from employees saying, ‘I’m in a really bad space mentally... I’m not sure why I work here. This has caused me to question everything,’” Pagels-Minor says in an exclusive clip for Vice TV’s docuseries Nine Lives Of, which premieres January 10 at 10 p.m. with an installment focused on Dave Chappelle. Nevertheless, the ex-program manager said, “The entire response from the senior team was, ‘You people are just not smart enough; you’re not intelligent enough.’”
Back in 2021, The Closer’s release sparked a walk-out at Netflix, as employees picketed the company at its headquarters over its decision to keep streaming the special in spite of its anti-trans humor. In an email to company staff obtained by Variety at the time, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos wrote, “While some employees disagree, we have a strong belief that content on screen doesn’t directly translate to real-world harm.”