Hannah Gadsby Would Like Netflix to Keep Her Name Out of Their Dave Chappelle Business

If you've got beef with the public, especially if you happen to be on the less sensitive side of queer politics, don't rely on Hannah Gadsby to be your poster child. The latest person to feel that backlash is Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos, who name dropped Gadsby in a memo sent out to Netflix employees. The memo, which addresses backlash to the Dave Chappelle special The Closer, doubles down on his decision to keep Chappelle's special on Netflix after public and internal opinion chastised the comedian for spending over half the special taking aim at trans people and endorsing TERFs.

The memo, published by Variety on Wednesday, says in part, “Adults can watch violence, assault and abuse – or enjoy shocking stand-up comedy – without it causing them to harm others. We are working hard to ensure marginalized communities aren’t defined by a single story. So we have Sex Education, Orange is the New Black, Control Z, Hannah Gadsby and Dave Chappelle all on Netflix. Key to this is increasing diversity on the content team itself.”

Gadsby, whose specials Nanette and Douglas have become critically acclaimed hits for the streamer, did not appreciate being touted as a proof point of Netflix's diversity. The comedian stated on Instagram, "Hey Ted Sarandos! Just a quick note to let you know that I would prefer if you didn’t drag my name into your mess. Now I have to deal with even more of the hate and anger that Dave Chappelle’s fans like to unleash on me every time Dave gets 20 million dollars to process his emotionally stunted partial word view.”

Trans and non-binary people have come forth both on social media and within Netflix to echo Gadsby's statements, arguing that Chappelle's special has, at least in part, encouraged people to spew anti-trans hate speech at users. Gadsby continues, “You didn’t pay me nearly enough to deal with the real world consequences of the hate speech dog whistling you refuse to acknowledge, Ted. F**k you and your amoral algorithm cult… I do sh*ts with more back bone than you. That’s just a joke! I definitely didn’t cross a line because there isn’t one.”

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