Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos defends Dave Chappelle's comedy: 'The comedian of our generation'

foxnews.com:

Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos is sticking behind his decision to back Dave Chappelle. Chappelle, whose comedy special lives on the streaming site, has received backlash over his use of transgender jokes in his set.

Netflix employees walked out of the Los Angeles headquarters in protest of "The Closer." Sarandos told The New York Times he was surprised by the employees' reaction, but stood behind his decision to put Chappelle on the platform.

He emphasized that comedians can only figure out where the line 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." Ted Sarandos is sticking behind his decision to host Dave Chappelle's comedy content on Netflix. (Handout/Getty Images for Netflix) Sarandos said the decision to keep Chappelle on the platform wasn't hard and noted it's good to test your principles. "It was an opportunity to take somebody, like in Dave’s case, who is, by all measure, the comedian of our generation, the most popular comedian on Netflix for sure.

Nobody would say that what he does isn’t thoughtful or smart. You just don’t agree with him." Netflix is focused on programming something for everybody, according to Sarandos. "We’re programming for a lot of diverse people who have different opinions and different tastes and different styles, and yet we’re not making everything for everybody," he told the outlet. "We want something for everybody but everything’s not going to be for everybody." Chappelle has seen backlash over his jokes about transgender people.