Netflix CEO defends Dave Chappelle and Ricky Gervais over right to free expression

nme.com:

Netflix said in a new interview that he wishes to uphold the comedians’ right to “free expression” even if it means “crossing the line every once in a while”.Chappelle’s The Closer special, which aired last October, included him saying he was “tricked” into calling a trans woman beautiful as well as likening trans women to white people in blackface.

He also said he sided was a “TERF”.Gervais’ new stand-up special SuperNature sees him declare that he supports trans rights while saying: “meet me halfway, ladies: lose the cock.” Rights groups have labelled his jokes as transphobic.The Chappelle special prompted LGBTQ+ Netflix employees and supporters to walk out in protest over his transphobic and homophobic jokes.

And figures including Steve Albini have criticised Gervais for his “fucked up” show, calling him an “anti-woke trans-bash” comedian.Now, Sarandos has doubled down on the right to free speech after his streaming platform boosted its anti-censorship drive in a company memo shared earlier this month.He told the New York Times that the only way comedians can work out what’s acceptable is by “crossing the line every once in a while.

I think it’s very important to the American culture generally to have free expression” [quotes via Deadline].“We’re programming for a lot of diverse people who have different opinions and different tastes and different styles,” Sarandos continued, “and yet we’re not making everything for everybody.