A Netflix employee at the center of worker-led protests over its streaming of comedian Dave Chappelle’s latest comedy special has voluntarily resigned, it was announced Monday.
Chappelle鈥檚 special “ Closer”, which debuted on聽Oct. 5, led to backlash from LGBTQ+ advocates and prompted a walkout among some Netflix employees.
Terra Field, a trans engineer at聽Netflix, was suspended聽by the streaming giant聽after attending a director-level meeting that Field was not invited to before subsequently being聽reinstated after Netflix found no ill intent in such action.
Prior to the suspension, Field posted聽a viral tweet thread聽about the special, alleging that it “attacks the trans community, and the very validity of transness.”
In his special, Chappelle showed support for “Harry Potter” author J.K. Rowling, who has said, “If sex isn鈥檛 real, the lived reality of women globally is erased.”
“I agree, man,” Chappelle said. “Gender is a fact. Every human being in this room, every human being on Earth, had to pass through the legs of a woman to be on Earth. That is a fact.”
Field said in a statement Monday: “I have resigned from Netflix as of 11/21/2021. This isn鈥檛 how I thought things would end, but I am relieved to have closure.”
Field and former聽colleague, B. Pagels-Minor, are also withdrawing an unfair labor practice charge they filed against the streaming giant in late October that accused the company of retaliating against them for trying to organize a company-wide walkout over Chappelle’s special, Reuters reports.
Pagels-Minor,聽a game launch operations program manager who also is trans, was fired from Netflix in October for organizing the walkout after the streaming giant also accused Pagels-Minor of聽leaking confidential information.聽Pagels-Minor denied leaking such information.
A Netflix spokesperson said in an emailed statement to Reuters on Monday:聽“We have resolved our differences in a way that acknowledges the erosion of trust on both sides and, we hope, enables everyone to move on.”
Pezou has contacted Netflix and lawyers for Pagels-Minor and Field for comment.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Pezou : Netflix Employee at Center of Protests Against Dave Chappelle Voluntarily Resigns