From Dave Chappelle to Ricky Gervais, Netflix seems intent on ruining its reputation

When your car is skidding out of control, almost destined for a crash, they say the best thing you can do is steer into it.

It seems pretty unlikely that this advice also applies to multibillion-dollar streaming companies that are haemorrhaging both cash and consumer confidence. But Netflix seems to be following it nonetheless.

English comedian Ricky Gervais during his Netflix special SuperNature.Credit: Netflix

The streaming giant has landed itself in yet another controversy, following the release of Ricky Gervais’ new standup special SuperNature. The one-hour show features jokes that have been widely condemned as transphobic, homophobic and “dangerous”, and LGBTQ advocacy group GLAAD is asserting it violates a Netflix policy against content designed to incite hate or violence.

If this all sounds familiar, it’s because it is. This is the exact sequence of events we saw around the release of Dave Chappelle’s special, The Closer, less than a year ago.

That resulted in not only widespread condemnation, but internal backlash too. Netflix employees staged a walkout calling for disclaimers before transphobic content and (among other things) a revision of internal procedures around how these works are commissioned and released. Some of the streaming giant’s biggest stars stood in solidarity with those workers, and Hannah Gadsby went as far as labelling the company an “amoral algorithm cult”.

By his own admission, the company’s CEO Ted Sarandos responded poorly.

He dismissed staff concerns, claiming “content on screen doesn’t directly translate to real-world harm” (a contested claim he’s since retracted). And, though he continued to stand by the release of the special, he said he “should have led with a lot more humanity” when communicating with staff.

And now… here we are again. The only difference between this controversy and the last is that now, Netflix is in a far worse position in almost every conceivable way.

The company recently lost subscribers for the first time in a decade and its share price has been in freefall. As new streamers enter the market, it’s facing more competition than ever. And, with a perceived drop in the quality of its content, it’s having trouble standing out.

Netflix is also facing internal instability after letting go around 150 employees. With many of those workers coming from teams which promoted content from marginalised communities, some – both inside and outside the organisation – are now questioning the company’s stated commitment to diversity and inclusion.

Netflix is in the midst of its most challenging year on record.Credit: Getty Images

The release of Gervais’ special (notably with no content warning) will surely inflame those tensions and do further damage to the brand too.

It’s not necessarily a case of customers unsubscribing from Netflix to protest the platform amplifying harmful views (though this will happen to some degree). This is a larger problem with Netflix’s image and purpose.

At the height of its success, Netflix was synonymous with both innovation and quality. But the company now seems to be making every effort to undermine those two things. This pioneer of uninterrupted on-demand viewing is now looking to ad-supported services. And its once-curated catalogue of prestige content has ballooned out into what some experts call a “buffet model” that “aims to overwhelm with quantity”.

There’s nothing necessarily wrong with that strategy when you’re talking about having 10 different reality shows about dating and cooking and people selling houses. Everyone can just watch whatever they’re interested in. But it simply doesn’t work when it comes to things like LGBTQ rights.

Netflix is a champion of inclusive shows like Orange Is the New Black, Queer Eye and Heartstopper, and has historically prided itself on that fact. But by simultaneously throwing millions at comedians like Gervais and Chappelle, who insist on punching down on one of society’s most marginalised groups, it’s trampling on one of the last respectable parts of its reputation – at the time it needs it most.

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