“In an effort to further open a door that I had to fight to get through myself, I will curate and host a line-up show on Netflix featuring six new, gender-diverse comedians,” said Gadsby In the official Netflix announcement for the deal. “In a notoriously transphobic industry, I am looking to broaden the scope of opportunities for genderqueer performers from around the globe, as well as expand the diversity of offerings to audiences on one of comedy’s biggest platforms.” The special is paired with a mentorship initiative to help boost the skills and visibility of comedians from marginalized gender identities, with the sets due to be recorded sometime in 2023. “This will be a chance for the world to hear these voices for the first, but definitely not the last, time,” they said.
Netflix is, regardless of its questionable ethics, still the biggest streaming platform in existence. Gadsby was right to call out the corporation for their excusal of Chappelle’s blatant transphobia and was doubly right when noting the company does not pay them enough to deal with the fallout of those actions. There are definitely those that see returning to the streamer as hypocritical, but it’s clear this is Gadsby’s way of making the company pay for putting them in such an unfair position in 2020.
Quite honestly? GOOD FOR THEM. Insult the company to their face, take home a fat check, amplify yourself, and get the chance to amplify even more marginalized comedians? That’s not hypocrisy, that’s breaking the game from the inside out.
