Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos Defends Dave Chappelle, Ricky Gervais Free Speech: “It Used To Be A Very Liberal Issue”
deadline.comIn a wide-ranging interview published today in the New York Times, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos has doubled down on his prior defenses of artistic freedom, backing comedians Dave Chappelle and Ricky Gervais.Both comics are under fire in some quarters for perceived digs at transgender people.
The controversies prompted some Netflix employees to stage an earlier walk-out protest.In the interview with Maureen Dowd, Sarandos said he was taken by surprise at the reaction, but didn’t hesitate to support Chappelle.
He added that the only way comedians can figure 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.“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.
We want something for everybody, but everything’s not going to be for everybody.”The Chappelle support “wasn’t hard in that way.
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