Netflix Warned that Dave Chappelle specials would cause bad press

Cindy Holland, former vice president of original content at Netflix, told CEO Ted Sarandos that bringing Dave Chappelle back for a comedy special might not be a great idea, according to reports.

Dave Chappelle’s 2021 comedy special “The Closer” contained transphobic rhetoric, including a joke where he said he was “Team TERF,” which stands for a trans-exclusionary radical feminist.

Chappelle has been accused of perpetuating anti-trans ideology in previous specials. Sarandos, a Chappelle fan, defended the comic but later told staff members that he “screwed up.”

Netflix is now dealing with its another issue as the platform revealed last week it lost 200,000 subscribers during its first quarter and forecasted it could lose two million in the next. The news sent its stock plummeting 21% in after-hours trading