Netflix's Ted Sarandos Defends Dave Chappelle & Ricky Gervais Against Backlash for Transphobic Jokes

Ricky Gervais has joked that he’s reported his fans “for hate crimes” for laughing at his new stand-up material.The comedian performed at the Leicester Square Theatre in London on Wednesday (June 8), where he showcased a new stand-up set for upcoming Netflix special Ricky Gervais: Armageddon.In a post on Twitter after the show, Gervais wrote: “Another amazing audience at @lsqtheatre for my #Armageddon new material night. They laughed at things that shouldn’t be laughed at and I have reported them all for hate crimes. I’ll do more soon.”Another amazing audience at @lsqtheatre for my #Armageddon new material night.

Selome Hailu Billy Eichner and Mae Martin have called out Netflix’s support of Dave Chappelle’s jokes about queer and trans people — in a comedy special released by Netflix itself.Both comedians appear in “Stand Out: An LGBTQ Celebration,” which debuted on June 9 after being taped at Netflix Is a Joke Fest in May. The event, hosted by Eichner, was the largest-ever gathering of LGBTQ+ comics in one stand-up special, according to Netflix.“We all know how backwards and dangerous the ‘Don’t Say Gay’ laws are,” Eichner says in the special. “Queer people, and especially trans people, are under legislative attack in this country.

Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos is sticking behind his decision to back Dave Chappelle. Chappelle, whose comedy special lives on the streaming site, has received backlash over his use of transgender jokes in his set. Netflix employees walked out of the Los Angeles headquarters in protest of "The Closer." Sarandos told The New York Times he was surprised by the employees' reaction, but stood behind his decision to put Chappelle on the platform.

Netflix said in a new interview that he wishes to uphold the comedians’ right to “free expression” even if it means “crossing the line every once in a while”.Chappelle’s The Closer special, which aired last October, included him saying he was “tricked” into calling a trans woman beautiful as well as likening trans women to white people in blackface. He also said he sided was a “TERF”.Gervais’ new stand-up special SuperNature sees him declare that he supports trans rights while saying: “meet me halfway, ladies: lose the cock.” Rights groups have labelled his jokes as transphobic.The Chappelle special prompted LGBTQ+ Netflix employees and supporters to walk out in protest over his transphobic and homophobic jokes.

The head of Netflix is still behind two of the company’s most popular comedians.

New York Times in a story posted Saturday. “They are not always going to be right, but how you help navigate the outcomes, and the urgency you bring to it, is what gets folks through the storm. And the storms will come.”While Netflix was riding high with the addition of 10 million subscribers amid the first few months of the pandemic in summer 2020, trouble loomed on the horizon.

J. Kim Murphy Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos has offered further defense for the streamer’s curation of stand-up comedy specials from Ricky Gervais and Dave Chappelle, both of which have been criticized for including language that is considered transphobic.In an interview with Maureen Dowd at The New York Times, Sarandos reaffirmed his stance on airing the specials, saying that the way comedians figure out where the line is is by “crossing the line every once in a while.”“I think it’s very important to the American culture generally to have free expression, Sarandos told the Times.

In a wide-ranging interview published today in the New York Times, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos has doubled down on his prior defenses of artistic freedom, backing comedians Dave Chappelle and Ricky Gervais.

Comedian Ricky Gervais is doubling down on the transphobic material included in his new Netflix special SuperNature. Trigger Warning: This story discusses homophobia and transphobia, which might be distressing to some readers. For 24 hour crisis support and suicide prevention call Lifeline on 13 11 14. For Australia-wide LGBTQI peer support call QLife on 1800 184 527 or webchat.Speaking with The Spectator, Gervais, 60, claimed, “My target wasn’t trans folk, but trans activist ideology.

Netflix is under fire again due to jokes about the transgender community in Ricky Gervais‘ new comedy special.

Ricky Gervais’ Netflix special SuperNature.Gervais has faced criticism over “transphobic” jokes in the special that was released on Tuesday (May 24), with LGBT rights organisation GLAAD describing the show as “full of graphic, dangerous, anti-trans rants masquerading as jokes”.Since the special was released, a clip from Acaster’s show Cold Lasagne Hate Myself 1999 has been shared across social media, which targets “edgy comedians” who “slag off transgender people”.In the clip, Acaster says: “They say whatever they like, edgy comedians. No one tells them what they can and can’t say.

Ricky Gervais is speaking out amid the backlash surrounding his new Netflix special, SuperNature.

Ricky Gervais has defended making jokes about “taboo subjects” following the backlash to his Netflix special SuperNature.The comedian has faced criticism over “transphobic” jokes in the special that was released on Tuesday (May 24), with LGBT rights organisation GLAAD describing the show as “full of graphic, dangerous, anti-trans rants masquerading as jokes”.Speaking on BBC’s The One Show following SuperNature’s release, Gervais echoed his comments from a recent appearance on The Late Show With Stephen Colbert.“I think that’s what comedy is for, really – to get us through stuff, and I deal in taboo subjects because I want to take the audience to a place it hasn’t been before, even for a split second,” Gervais said.“Most offence comes from when people mistake the subject of a joke with the actual target.”"I want to take the audience to a place they haven't been before." @rickygervais doesn't shy away from taboo subjects.

doubling down on his defense of “taboo comedy” amid ongoing social media outrage over a series of jokes in his new Netflix special/ “SuperNature,” which many online critics deemed transphobic.“I think that’s what comedy is for — getting us over taboo subjects so they’re not scary anymore,” the 60-year-old Emmy-winner told BBC One’s “The One Show” on Tuesday, the same day his special dropped on Netflix. “It’s like a parachute jump — it’s scary, but then you land and it’s all OK.”“So I deal with everything.

Ricky Gervais doesn’t let criticism get him down.

Ricky Gervais‘ for his “fucked up” new Netflix special and called him an “anti-woke trans-bash” comedian.Gervais has been criticised this week over “transphobic” jokes in his new comedy special SuperNature, in which the controversial comedian makes numerous jokes about the trans community.Oh, women,” he begins in the show. “Not all women, I mean the old-fashioned ones. The old-fashioned women, the ones with wombs.

The One Show. Alex Jones and Jermaine Jenas were on the sofa with special guests Dame Sarah Gilbert and Dr Catherine Green, the creators of the Covid vaccine. However, Ricky was first up for a chat as he promoted his new Netflix special, SuperNature.

Multiple liberal media outlets are having a hard time dealing with taboo-breaking comedian Ricky Gervais' new Netflix comedy special because of its jokes about transgender people. Gervais’ new special, titled "SuperNature," debuted on the streaming platform Tuesday and has already received multiple scathing reviews for containing several outrageous jokes about trans people and the activists who aggressively insist that the public respect their pronouns.  Hollywood magazine Variety, and British outlets Metro and The Independent clutched their collective pearls over the special.  Variety's opening salvo skewered it for trying to "score points off of a marginalized group of people." The Hollywood outlet slammed the special as a "collision between two malign forces," namely Gervais and Netflix.

Ricky Gervais has a lot to say about the transgender community in his new Netflix special — and it’s NOT going over well.