Netflix fires employee for disclosing financial information about Dave Chappelle special
CBC
Netflix said Friday that it has fired an employee for disclosing confidential financial information about what it paid for Dave Chappelle's comedy special The Closer, which some have condemned as being transphobic.
The employee, who wasn't named, shared "confidential, commercially sensitive information outside the company," a Netflix statement said.
"We understand this employee may have been motivated by disappointment and hurt with Netflix, but maintaining a culture of trust and transparency is core to our company."
The statement said the information was referred to in a Bloomberg news article, which reported that Netflix spent $24.1 million US on The Closer. The show first aired last week. The article also mentioned the lower budgets for a 2019 Chappelle special, a Bo Burnham special and the nine-episode hit Squid Game.
Netflix said a review of its internal access logs pinpointed the information to a single person, who "admitted that they downloaded and shared sensitive company information externally."
The Closer first aired on Oct. 5 and had gained at least 10 million views. However, Chappelle's remarks about the transgender community raised protests within Netflix and from LGBTQ activists.
The media watchdog group GLAAD said that "anti-LGBTQ content" violates Netflix's policy to reject programs that incite hate or violence.
