Netflix's woke purge
Troubled streaming giant's latest layoffs targeted staff who were among its most vocal social justice warriors
Netflix's recent axing of 290 staff targeted many of the firm's wokest workers who are prolific social justice warriors on social media, it has been claimed.
The struggling streaming service has pulled the plug on several projects that were aimed at discussing race and LGBTQ issues, Variety reported, and axed the diverse employees working on and promoting them.
A total of 150 recruitment workers were fired, as well as another 70 animators, and 70 contractors working on promotional materials for the firm including social media and publishing.
Those promotional workers were assigned to work on Netflix projects Strong Black Lead, the Asian American-focused Golden, the Latino-focused Con Todo, and the LGBTQ-focused Most.
Netflix claimed its latest layoffs were due to 'a slow down in revenue and decline in subscribers.' But critics online say many of those given the boot were from minority groups - and others have speculated that the firings were part of a woke clear-out.
Common Sense with Bari Weiss's weekly TGIF newsletter said: 'The company framed the firings as “layoffs”—but 150 people doesn’t really make a dent for a company of 11,000 people. Those 150 happen to include, just by chance, some of the most Twitter-active social justice workers in the place.'
The streamer has found itself at odds with some woke staff who've gone on the record to slam their employer over shows they deem 'harmful', including Dave Chappelle's The Closer comedy special.
Among the newly fired were Olivia Truffaut-Wong and Lydia Wang, who shared their upset on Twitter.
'I was also laid off by Netflix today,' Wang tweeted on Tuesday. 'I really loved my job and my colleagues and I am a little heartbroken!'
Truffaut-Wong also wrote on Tuesday: 'OK, yes, I am one of the Tudum layoffs (lol). I did a lot of work I'm proud of, met a lot of really awesome writers and editors, and made great friends. It's the cycle of media life!'
H. Drew Blackburn, another laid off employee, recalled the turbulent saga where he did not know whether or not he had a job or not.
