TOPLINE As Netflix employees staged a walk-out in LA on Wednesday to protest the controversial Dave Chapelle comedy special — and the company&#8217;s defense of it — some of the streaming giant&#8217;s biggest stars showed their solidarity with protesters, including trans actor Eliot Page.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-facts">KEY FACTS</h2>



Page, who stars on Netflix’s superhero series&nbsp;Umbrella Academy,&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/TheElliotPage/status/1450871043736752135?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tweeted</a>&nbsp;that he stands with “the trans, nonbinary, and BIPOC employees at Netflix fighting for more and better trans stories and a more inclusive workplace.”&nbsp;



Dan Levy, whose show&nbsp;Schitt’s Creek&nbsp;streams on the service,&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/danjlevy/status/1450901069362393091?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tweeted</a>&nbsp;that “transphobia is unacceptable” and that he stands with the Netflix employees protesting for “a safe and supportive work environment.”&nbsp;



Billy Eichner, who was featured in the Netflix series&nbsp;Friends From College&nbsp;and whose former show&nbsp;Billy On The Street&nbsp;streams on the platform, shared attendance information about the walk-out and&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/billyeichner/status/1450831887476346880?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">said</a>&nbsp;he is “sending my love and full support” to those participating in the walk-out.



Tuesday, several celebrities were featured&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnbE18-r_i0&amp;feature=youtu.be" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">in a video</a>&nbsp;about and in support of the walk-out, including Angelica Ross, whose shows&nbsp;Pose&nbsp;and&nbsp;American Horror Story&nbsp;are streaming on the platform, Jonathan Van Ness, who stars in Netflix’s&nbsp;Queer Eye&nbsp;and Jameela Jamil, whose series&nbsp;The Good Place&nbsp;is available on the site.&nbsp;



Sara Ramirez, a nonbinary actor whose former show&nbsp;Grey’s Anatomy&nbsp;is streaming on Netflix used Twitter&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/SaraRamirez/status/1450797050237444115?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">to publicise the walk-out</a>&nbsp;and spread information about it.&nbsp;



Joey Soloway, who created the Amazon Prime series&nbsp;Transparent, spoke at Wednesday’s rally and requested that a trans person be put on the Netflix board, according to&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/DeadlineDominic/status/1450895720483934211?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">a&nbsp;Deadline&nbsp;reporter</a>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-key-background">KEY BACKGROUND</h2>



Chapelle’s “The Closer” was released earlier this month and met with almost immediate controversy over comments Chapelle made about trans people. Several employees who had spoken up against the special&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/teakvetenadze/2021/10/11/netflix-suspends-employees-for-crashing-meeting-amid-chappelle-transphobia-controversy/?sh=425f3926317f">were suspended</a>&nbsp;for attending a meeting they weren’t supposed to and&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/siladityaray/2021/10/13/netflix-reinstates-three-workers-who-spoke-out-against-dave-chappelles-stand-up-special/">were later reinstated</a>. Another employee, a leader of the walkout,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/kimberleespeakman/2021/10/15/netflix-fires-employee-for-leaking-information-on-dave-chappelle-comedy-special/?sh=7db1712b4f7f">was fired</a>&nbsp;for allegedly leaking sensitive information. On Wednesday, Sarandos acknowledged that he “screwed up” by ignoring “the fact that a group of our employees was really hurting.” Still, the executive&nbsp;<a href="https://variety.com/2021/film/news/dave-chappelle-netflix-ted-sarandos-i-screwed-up-1235093098/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">told&nbsp;Variety</a>&nbsp;the special will remain on the streaming service and that Chapelle’s comments do not fall into hate speech. An employee collective at Netflix called Trans*,&nbsp; organized Wednesday’s walk-out with the goals of having the company add an offensive language disclaimer to “The Closer,” acknowledge the harm the company caused the trans community, internally review the process for putting out “potentially harmful” content, and create a fund to support trans and nonbinary talent.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-further-reading">FURTHER READING</h2>



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/annakaplan/2021/10/20/netflix-employees-plan-walkout-amid-chappelle-controversy/?sh=1a28cd837ca3">Netflix Employees Plan Walkout Amid Chappelle Controversy</a> (Forbes) 



By Marisa Dellatto, Forbes Staff



<a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/marisadellatto/"></a>

Tag: Elliot Page

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Elliot Page, Dan Levy, And Other Netflix Stars Show Support For Employee Walk-Out