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Chappelle special draws critics, boosters to Netflix walkout
ABC News
Critics and supporters of Dave Chappelle’s Netflix special that included anti-transgender comments gathered outside the company’s offices Wednesday, with “Trans lives matter” and “Free speech is a right” among their competing messages
LOS ANGELES -- Critics and supporters of Dave Chappelle's Netflix special and its anti-transgender comments gathered outside the company's offices Wednesday, with “Trans lives matter” and “Free speech is a right” among their competing messages.
People began gathering in advance of a planned walkout by Netflix employees seeking to highlight their objections to Chappelle's stand-up special “The Closer” and the company's handling of it. By noon, the crowd had swelled to more than 100.
Leia Figueroa, a student from Los Angeles, doesn't work at Netflix but said she wanted to back the walkout. While the streaming service offers positive fare for the LGBTQ community, she said, it's having it both ways by also offering a show like Chappelle's that included disparaging comments about trans women.
Bella Cohen, a former journalist, said she was on hand to "support Netflix’s decision not to pull” the special.