Advertisement

Elliot Page, Lilly Wachowski, Joey Soloway support 'Netflix' Dave Chappelle walkout

Elliot Page tweeted support of the Netflix walkout over Dave Chappelle's "The Closer" on Wednesday. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI
1 of 2 | Elliot Page tweeted support of the Netflix walkout over Dave Chappelle's "The Closer" on Wednesday. File Photo by John Angelillo/UPI | License Photo

Oct. 20 (UPI) -- Elliot Page, Lilly Wachowski and Joey Soloway were among the celebrities supporting Netflix employees and creators in a walkout on Wednesday. Trans employees organized the walkout over Dave Chappelle's latest comedy special, The Closer.

Page stars on Netflix's series The Umbrella Academy. He tweeted, "I stand with the trans, nonbinary, and BIPOC employees at Netflix fighting for more and better trans stories and a more inclusive workplace #NetflixWalkout"

Wachowski also tweeted her support of the walkout. "​​If you're not standing up for trans lives, you need to take a good look at who you ARE standing with," Wachowski wrote.

Advertisement

Soloway, who produced Transparent on Amazon Prime, joined RuPaul's Drag Race and We're Here star Eureka O'Hara, filmmaker Ashlee Marie Preston and Netflix employees at the company's Vine St. offices in Los Angeles, Calif., according to Deadline.

"I want trans representation on the Netflix board," Soloway said according to The Hollywood Reporter. "A trans person on the f-ing Netflix board this [expletive] week."

Organizers of the walkout presented a list of asks to Netflix, according to Deadline. They requested all references and imagery of Chappelle be removed from the workplace including murals, posters, room names and swag.

Multiple asks revolved around investment in trans or non-binary content, specifying the investment be equal to that of works produced by Chappelle. Chappelle reportedly made $60 million for his series of Netflix comedy specials, according to Page Six.

Previous Chappelle specials garnered criticism for anti-trans statements. In The Closer, Chappelle announced himself as "Team TERF," TERF referring to Trans-Exclusionary Radical Feminist.

On Tuesday, Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos spoke with Variety about the impending walkout. Last week, Sarandos had sent a memo to staff standing by Chappelle, arguing that "content on screen doesn't directly translate to real world harm."

Advertisement

Acknowledging that The Closer causes harm is also on the list of asks. Sarandos told Variety he "screwed up" by not acknowledging the "pain and hurt" his employees were feeling.

"Of course storytelling has real impact in the real world," Sarandos told Variety. "That impact can be hugely positive, and it can be quite negative."

Netflix issued a statement Wednesday morning.

"​​We respect the decision of any employee who chooses to walk out, and recognize we have much more work to do both within Netflix and in our content," the statement read.

Netflix fired a walkout organizer, B. Pagels-Minor, who led the Netflix Trans. The Verge previously reported Pagels-Minor, who spoke to Hollywood Reporter at the walkout, was fired Friday for sharing confidential company data. Pagels-Minor denies leaking sensitive information.

"When I thought about why I was participating in, it's that my son does not grow up with content that hates me," Pagels-Minor said according to THR. "I want my child to grow up in a world where they see that their parent, a Black trans person -- because I exist, contrary to what the special says, contrary to what many people say -- that I am valued and I am an important person as well."

Advertisement

Latest Headlines