Netflix has reinstated software engineer Terra Field after suspending her and two other unnamed employees for attending a meeting meant for the company’s top executives.
The suspension came two days after Field, who identifies as queer and trans, publicly criticized the streaming service’s new Dave Chappelle comedy special for including transphobic jokes.
Field shared the news of her reinstatement on Twitter Tuesday night. She included an emailed statement from Netflix confirming that its investigation found she had attended the virtual meeting without “any ill intent” and that a director had shared the link to join:
A Netflix spokesperson confirmed the reinstatement of Field and the two other suspended employees and said it would be “distributing broader guidance about meetings and clarifying which are for which people,” per Deadline.
Field first tweeted her viral thread about Chappelle’s special, “The Closer,” on Wednesday, a day after it was released on the streaming platform.
Netflix faced scrutiny over the timing of her suspension. Responding to concerns that it was retribution for Field’s tweets, the company insisted the two incidents were unrelated.
“It is absolutely untrue to say that we have suspended any employees for tweeting about this show. Our employees are encouraged to disagree openly and we support their right to do so,” a spokesperson told The Washington Post.
Chappelle has received significant backlash from the LGBTQ community and its allies for the jokes he made in “The Closer.” The National Black Justice Coalition, a civil rights advocacy group, urged Netflix to apologize and remove the special. And GLAAD, an advocacy group for the LGBTQ community, said Chappelle’s brand had become synonymous with ridiculing trans 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,” GLAAD tweeted.
Netflix has declined to remove the show and Chappelle laughed off the feedback, saying, “If this is what being canceled is like, I love it.”
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