Netflix Reinstates Trans Employee Who Condemned Dave Chappelle Special
Netflix has reinstated software engineer Terra Field after she criticized the company’s latest Dave Chappelle special — a move the streaming service insisted had nothing to do with her suspension.
Field, who identifies as queer and trans, took to Twitter last week to denounce Chappelle’s new special for including transphobic jokes and promoting TERF ideology, which represents trans-exclusionary radical feminism.
“Yesterday we launched another Chappelle special where he attacks the trans community, and the very validity of transness – all while trying to pit us against other marginalized groups. You’re going to hear a lot of talk about ‘offense,'” she wrote. “We are not offended.”
Field went on to clarify that members of the trans community are not “offended,” as their feelings have not been hurt by jokes made at their expense, adding, “We don’t have ‘thin skin.’
“What we object to is the harm that content like this does to the trans community (especially trans people of color) and VERY specifically Black trans women,” she explained. “People who look like me aren’t being killed. I’m a white woman, I get to worry about Starbucks writing ‘Tara’ on my drink.”
She continued to say that promoting TERF ideology, which she acknowledged her employer did with Chappelle’s special, “directly harms trans people,” adding, “It is not some neutral act. This is not an argument with two sides. It is an argument with trans people who want to be alive and people who don’t want us to be.”
“So who does this harm? Why don’t we go over the list of some people from the US who aren’t offended by Dave Chappelle’s special,” Field said, going on to list 38 trans and non-binary people who have been violently killed.
Days later, the engineer and two other employees were suspended from the company, yet Netflix has explained that the move was made after the three employees attended a meeting exclusively meant for the company’s top executives.
“It is absolutely untrue to say that we have suspended any employees for tweeting about this show. Our employees are encouraged to disagree openly and we support their right to do so,” a Netflix spokesperson said of Field’s suspension on Monday.
On Tuesday, Field shared that she had been reinstated, posting an email statement from Netflix to her Twitter account.
Netflix has reinstated me after finding that there was no ill-intent in my attending the QBR meeting. I’ve included the statement I requested below.
I’m going to take a few days off to decompress and try to figure out where I’m at. At the very least, I feel vindicated. pic.twitter.com/lYxemYgRkJ
— Terra Field (@RainofTerra) October 13, 2021
“Netflix has reinstated me after finding that there was no ill-intent in my attending the QBR meeting,” she wrote. “I’ve included the statement I requested below. I’m going to take a few days off to decompress and try to figure out where I’m at. At the very least, I feel vindicated.”
A Netflix spokesperson later confirmed the reinstatement, sharing that the company would be “distributing broader guidance about meetings and clarifying which are for which people,” according to Deadline.
