Netflix boss says sorry for Dave Chappelle response as staff walk out in protest

Netflix's boss has bowed to internal outrage over his defence of Dave Chappelle following accusations of transphobia as staff walked out in protest against the comedian’s new special.

Ted Sarandos, the co-chief executive, said he "screwed up" in his handling of employees' concerns but stood by his decision to commission Chapelle's latest Netflix special because he wanted to support "creative freedom and artistic expression".

A group of staff calling themselves Team Trans* organised a rally outside of the streaming giant's Sunset Boulevard offices in Los Angeles in reaction to jokes in The Closer about transgender people's genitalia and pronouns.

Netflix confirmed that some UK staff had also decided to take part in the walk-out.

The protest came as the global success of Squid Games helped Netflix rebound from a slowdown in subscriber numbers to beat analyst expectations by adding 4.38m to 213.6m globally for the three months to September.

Mr Sarandos said his initial staff memo claiming that Chappelle had not crossed the line into inciting violence had been "uncharacteristic".

"Obviously, I screwed up that internal communication," he told Variety. "I did that, and I screwed it up in two ways.

“First and foremost, I should have led with a lot more humanity. Meaning, I had a group of employees who were definitely feeling pain and hurt from a decision we made. And I think that needs to be acknowledged up front before you get into the nuts and bolts of anything. I didn’t do that."

However, Mr Sanandos said the show would stay on Netflix, adding: "I don’t believe there have been many calls to remove it."

The Team Trans* group was planning to hand Mr Sarandos a "list of asks" in an attempt to push back against what they deemed to be harmful content that negatively affects "vulnerable communities".

The move has been spearheaded by Ashlee Marie Preston, the protest organiser, who wants to "shift the social ecology around what Netflix leadership deems ethical entertainment".

A Netflix spokeswoman added: "We value our trans colleagues and allies, and understand the deep hurt that’s been caused. We respect the decision of any employee who chooses to walk out, and recognise we have much more work to do both within Netflix and in our content."