A Netflix producer says she will no longer work for Netflix following the streamer's release of Dave Chappelle's comedy special, The Closer, which she claims includes 'transphobic comments'.
Jaclyn Moore, a transwoman, who worked on the Netflix hit Dear White People for four years as an executive producer and showrunner, claims bosses at the streaming service are to blame more than 48-year-old Chappelle, who is known for being controversial.
'I want to be clear that Dave Chappelle should be free to say whatever he wants and I should be free to say whatever I would like about him. Not to let Chappelle off the hook, but my bigger issue is with Netflix. This isn't a live special. It was filmed, finished and people watched it and nobody said, 'Hey, are we sure this is good? Are we sure this is OK? Are we sure this isn't dangerous? What are the consequences of putting this out?' Moore said in an interview with The Hollywood Reporter.
Jaclyn Moore, pictured, a trans showrunner on another Netflix show said she will no longer work for the streaming service following Dave Chappelle's allegedly 'transphobic' remarks
Dave Chappelle continues to face backlash over the controversial contents of his latest Netflix special, The Closer
Moore has worked as a writer, producer and showrunner on Netflix's Dear White People and Peacock's Queer as Folk
Moore is said to be so upset with the streaming service that she has vowed to refrain from working for Netflix 'as long as they continue to put out and profit from blatantly and dangerously transphobic content.'
Chappelle, meanwhile, has faced a furious backlash from the LGBTQ community.
In the stand-up special - his sixth for the streaming service - Chappelle joked about Harry Potter author J K Rowling's 2019 statement that transgender women were not actually women and were a threat to her identity.
Rowling, 56, subsequently received a slew of hate messages and death threats for her comments on sex and gender after the incident, with the hashtag #RIPJKRowling trending on social media last year.
Jaclyn Moore, who wrote for Netflix's Dear White People, has criticized the streaming service over jokes in Dave Chappelle's latest Netflix special that take aim at transgender people
![Moore tweeted that Chappelle was once 'one of [her] heroes,' but the jokes he made in the 'have real world consequences' for trans women, including violence and hatred, she said](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2021/10/10/03/48975887-10076767-image-a-16_1633833928128.jpg)
Moore tweeted that Chappelle was once 'one of [her] heroes,' but the jokes he made in the 'have real world consequences' for trans women, including violence and hatred, she said
Comedian Dave Chappelle is under fire for making transphobic jokes in his new Netflix special
Harry Potter author JK Rowling stated in 2019 that transgender women were not actually women and were a threat to her identity
Rowling was then labeled a 'TERF' by the LGBTQ community - which stands for 'trans-exclusionary radical feminist.'
Chappelle joked that he embraced the label.
'I'm Team TERF. I agree. I agree, man,' Chappelle says in the special, aligning himself with the ousted writer.
'Gender is a fact,' he then remarks.
Chappelle adds: 'Every human being in this room, every human being on Earth, had to pass through the legs of a woman to be on Earth. That is a fact.'
In the contentious special, Chappelle also jokes that women today view transwomen the same way black people might view white women wearing blackface, and remarked that women are entitled to feel anger toward transwomen, since Caitlyn Jenner won Glamour magazine's 2015 Woman of the Year award.
'I'd be mad as sh*t if I was a woman,' Chappelle says during a problematic bit.
The star also jokes about the anatomy of transwomen in the special, joking that they lacked real female reproductive organs and that they did not have blood but 'beet juice.'
Moore explained how after watching the Chappelle special that she is now walking back comments she made about Netflix during Pride week when she described it as a company that 'cares about us and our community.'
Moore has vowed to no longer work with Netflix while they put out 'blatant and dangerously transphobic content'
'As I posted, I have worked with so many people at Netflix who are brilliant, lovely, kind, caring and want nothing more than to do the right thing. So, I don't know who [approved it], but what I do know is that there aren't enough trans people in these spaces because a trans person would have said, 'Are we aware of the implications?' she explained.
Moore explains that during the production process at Netflix, content is constantly flagged and questioned over its content, although she admits she is not sure 'how it works in stand-up.'
'The problem in Chappelle's case is that he's now done this in something like five specials in a row with increasing hostility. Netflix keeps paying for these specials. It's hard to feel like the financial upside outweighed the rest. I'm not saying that's what they think but that's the message that's received when this happens. So, I tweeted about my decision because I felt like I had to,' Moore said.
Moore, who transitioned over the course of the last year, said that she is shocked Chappelle’s show was greenlit by Netflix
Moore told how a number of people had contacted her to say how Chappelle's show was not transphobic
Moore shared some of the angry messages she had received on social media
The Closer will be Chappelle's last standup special on Netflix before he goes on break
'There aren't many trans showrunners in this business. It's a shortlist who have done this job and I've done this job at Netflix on a show that talks about queer issues, race and a host of other topics. I felt I had to say something, especially because I had put myself out there previously to promote Netflix as an inclusive place.'
Moore, whose Netflix series Dear White People has just concluded its run, tweeted that she 'will not work with Netflix as long as they continue to put out and profit from blatantly and dangerously homophobic content.'
Moore also explained following her declaration of no longer wanting to work for the streamer, someone from the production company got in touch with her.
'Someone called to hear my side of things and they wanted to let me know that they see me and see what I'm doing and they wanted to keep an open line of dialogue. I really appreciate that; it was a standup move by that person. I don't know what the internal politics are there about this or any of it but I do want to say that I worked with many people at Netflix who are some of the most empathetic and caring folks I've worked with in this business. There is a difference between the corporate decisions and whatever happens as an entity versus the people who exist within it,' Moore said.
She stressed during that interview that she is no longer pitching any new projects to Netflix 'for the time being.'
'I don't know what it will take to change that. I didn't do it as an ultimatum like, 'If you don't do it by this date, then…' I just can't in good conscience do business there right now. It's a difficult question because I don't know the right answer. I don't know if it's to supplement the specials, to add disclaimers or edits, I don't know. I don't think it's my job to fix their problem but I will say they do have a problem, which is their platform is promoting dangerous rhetoric from someone who says they are a TERF, who mocks the idea of my existence and compares what I do to blackface,' she added.
Earlier in the year, Moore had shared her transitioning story to promote Netflix as an 'inclusive' company
The Closer premiered on Netflix on October 5, where the comedian returned to the stage and made a slew of controversial jokes
His transgender jokes angered LGBQT advocates such as GLAAD, which blasted him on Twitter
During a speech on Thursday night, Chappelle steered clear of any material that might offend members of the LGBTQ community but he did show his contempt towards the phenomenon known as 'cancel culture.'
'If this is what being canceled is like, I love it,' he said as appeared on stage to a standing ovation. 'I don't know what to tell you, except I'm a bad motherf***er.'
It is not just Moore who has taken offense at Chappelle's comments. GLAAD (Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation) also put out a statement expressing disgust at the comedian's routine.
National Black Justice Coalition executive director David Johns wants the show cancelled
'Dave Chappelle's brand has become synonymous with ridiculing trans people and other marginalized communities. Negative reviews and viewers loudly condemning his latest special is a message to the industry that audiences don't support platforming anti-LGBTQ diatribes. We agree.'
'With 2021 on track to be the deadliest year on record for transgender people in the United States — the majority of whom are black transgender people — Netflix should know better,' David Johns from The National Black Justice Coalition, a civil rights organization serving primarily lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people said in a statement.
'Perpetuating transphobia perpetuates violence. Netflix should immediately pull The Closer from its platform and directly apologize to the transgender community.'
Dave Chappelle was spotted emerging from Hollywood's Peppermint Club on Wednesday evening in the wake of controversy surrounding the trans community
A number of LGBTQ advocacy charities have also demanded Netflix pull Chappelle's The Closer from its streaming service
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