The co-CEO of Netflix Ted Sarandos has defended comedians Dave Chappelle and Ricky Gervais, doubling down on his prior defences of artistic freedom.
According to Deadline, both the comedians have been under fire for perceived digs at transgender people. The controversies prompted some Netflix employees to stage an earlier walk-out protest.
The outlet reported that in an interview, Sarandos stated he was taken by surprise at the reaction, but didn't hesitate to support Chappelle.
He added that the only way comedians can figure out what's acceptable 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.
"We're programming for a lot of diverse people who have different opinions and different tastes and different styles, and yet we're not making everything for everybody. We want something for everybody, but everything's not going to be for everybody," continued Sarandos.
Sarandos didn't dive as deeply into the controversy surrounding Ricky Gervais's comedy special on Netflix. He said his remarks about Chappelle applied to Gervais.
As per Deadline, after the recent onstage attack on Chappelle during the 'Netflix Is a Joke Festival', the company released a new corporate culture memo, which in summary suggested, "If you'd find it hard to support our content breadth, Netflix may not be the best place for you."
( With inputs from ANI )
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