On Friday, Netflix revealed via The Hollywood Reporter that they’ve fired an employee for leaking financial information about Dave Chappelle’s comedy special, The Closer. The Netflix original has been causing a stir for quite some time now, after viewers called out the comedian for his jokes on sensitive topics.
“We have let go of an employee for sharing confidential, commercially sensitive information outside the company,” a spokesperson said. “We understand this employee may have been motivated by disappointment and hurt with Netflix, but maintaining a culture of trust and transparency is core to our company.”
The employee reportedly revealed to Bloomberg that Netflix spent a whopping $24.1 on Chappelle’s latest special and $23.6 million on his 2019 show, Sticks & Stones – even more than the $21.4 million they spent on Squid Game, which is their new most successful release to date.
The Bloomberg report also shared that Sticks & Stones reportedly generated an “impact value” of $19.4 million, meaning production costs were higher than what Chappelle’s special made, as determined by Netflix.
According to Complex, the recently fired employee was also the leader of the company’s trans employee resource group, and was planning an internal walkout on October 20th after the company refused to remove Chappelle’s jokes at the expense of the LGBTQ+ community from The Closer.
“Several of you have also asked where we draw the line on hate. We don’t allow titles Netflix that are designed to incite hate or violence, and we don’t believe The Closer crosses that line,” Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos said, earlier this week.
“I recognize, however, that distinguishing between commentary and harm is hard, especially with stand-up comedy which exists to push boundaries. Some people find the art of stand-up to be mean-spirited but our members enjoy it, and it’s an important part of our content offering.”
Elsewhere, Chappelle has been seemingly unbothered by all the drama, and even said that he “loves being cancelled.”