Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos supports freedom of speech: ‘Very important to American culture’

Netflix chief Ted Sarandos has returned to his support for creative freedom by supporting comedians Dave Chappelle and Ricky Gervais in an interview Sunday against villains trying to silence their alternative views.

in an interview with New York TimesComedian Maureen Dowd has a job to test the limits of public acceptance, she said. The only way to do this is to “cross the line occasionally. I think it’s very important for American culture in general to have freedom of expression.

“We program for many different people with different views, different tastes and different styles, but we don’t do everything for everyone. We want something for everyone, but not everyone is for everyone.”

Supporting Chappelle “is not complicated in that sense. And you rarely get a chance to test your principles,” he says, confirming the basic premise that when you suppress the idea, you suppress the discussion.

“This is an opportunity to take on one of the most popular comedians on Netflix, by far, as in the case of Dave, who is in every way a comedian of our generation. No one can say what he did was bad or smart. You just don’t agree with it. ”

Sandoz added that Netflix has spoken about its support for free speech in the past, particularly after attacking Chappelle on stage at a Hollywood Bowl performance.

“It used to be a very liberal issue, so we live in an interesting time,” Sarandos said, explaining his thoughts on being a conservative hero. “I always say, how are we going to protect our Middle East content if we censor the US?”

while Sometimes The conversation mostly focused on Chappelle, the interview also introduced the topic of a new Gervais special released earlier this week that sparked similar attacks for allegedly using transphobic language.

When questioned, Sarandos confirmed that Chappelle’s comments on their liberties were general and applied to Gervais as well.