Netflix employees are staging a walkout today in protest of the internal handling of Dave Chappelle’s latest comedy special, The Closer. The special, which was released on the streaming service on October 5th, has drawn intense criticism for Chapelle’s transphobic comments.

As reported by Bloomberg, Netflix staff expressed concerns over the content of The Closer prior to its release, sharing “dismay that the company continues to release programming with transphobic sentiments” and that “a series of jokes about gender-neutral pronouns and the genitalia of transgender people was potentially inflammatory and damaging.”

Last week, Netflix suspended and then reinstated Terra Field, a trans software engineer who tweeted a viral thread about the potential harm of the special, and two other employees for attempting to join a director-level meeting they did not have access to. Netflix quickly released a statement to The Verge after issuing the suspensions, clarifying that their employees were not penalized for being openly critical about the special. “It is absolutely untrue to say that we have suspended any employee for tweeting about this show. Our employees are encouraged to disagree openly and we support their right to do so.” (All three employees have since been reinstated.)

However, Netflix fired B. Pagels-Minor, a Black trans program manager and former leader of the trans employee resource group at the company, for allegedly leaking confidential metrics about the special to the media — a claim Pagels-Minor “categorically denies.”

“The tone of the message was basically like: You employees can’t possibly understand the nuance of comedy, and that’s why you’re upset,” Pagels-Minor said in an interview with the New York Times. “That’s not the point. It’s not that we don’t understand comedy. It’s that this comedy has tones of hatred. And what are we going to do to mitigate that?”

“I don’t have any ill will toward Netflix,” they added. “I want them to be successful, but the only way to succeed is to hold themselves to the values they expound.”

Netflix executives have shown continued and explicit support of Dave Chappelle over the past few weeks, defending the special and its content even after employees began asking questions about Netflix’s stance against transphobia on social media and internal forums. In a memo sent to staff, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos doubled down on his belief that Chappelle’s pointed humor does not have real-life consequences.

“With The Closer, we understand that the concern is not about offensive-to-some content but titles which could increase real world harm (such as further marginalizing already marginalized groups, hate, violence etc.),” Sarandos wrote. “Last year, we heard similar concerns about 365 Days and violence against women. While some employees disagree, we have a strong belief that content on screen doesn’t directly translate to real-world harm.”

Sarandos went on to rationalize Chappelle’s transphobic jokes as part of “his style.”

“Stand-up comedians often expose issues that are uncomfortable because the art by nature is highly provocative,” he wrote. “As a leadership team, we do not believe that The Closer is intended to incite hatred or violence against anyone (per our Sensitive Content guidelines).”