BY KELSEY PURCELL, FEATURES ASSIGNMENT EDITOR
Netflix stock soars because of the new Korean show “Squid Game” but streaming service is in trouble over Dave Chappelle comedy special, “The Closer.”
“Squid Game,” the popular Netflix original show, was released on Sept. 17. The Korean drama has been a hit worldwide. Netflix shares did extremely well after the show’s release.
According to CNN Business, Netflix stock was trailing behind its tech competitors for most of the year. Other streaming services such as Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV +, Disney +, HBO Max, Paramount +, and Peacock seemed to be attracting new customers, while Netflix was falling short. “Squid Game” created a huge turnaround for the company. At the beginning of October Netflix stock was up by 17% this year.
According to Bloomberg, “Squid Game” created evident growth in new users in the Asia-Pacific region which heavily contributed to the success of the show and viewers are streaming globally. The South Korean show was very successful for Netflix who has been trying to create a bigger presence and attract a bigger audience and more consumers in Asia. Viewers are already excited for season two of the Korean drama.
Netflix is doing well from “Squid Game,” but they might fall just as quickly because of controversy surrounding “The Closer.”
Netflix is back under fire after the release of “The Closer,” a comedy special from star comedian Dave Chappelle that debuted on Oct. 5. Chappelle has many of his comedy shows on Netflix. The standup comedian included controversial comments on transgender and gender during the show.
One of the comments Chappelle made was when he sided with J.K. Rowling, “Harry Potter” author by saying “I’m team TERF.” TERF stands for trans-exclusionary radical feminist. The group of radical feminists insist that trans-women are not women.
Critics are strongly against Chappelle’s comments, but Netflix continues to support him. According to the New York Times, Netflix shortly suspended a few employees for attending an executive virtual meeting without permission. Other Netflix employees have planned a walkout in protest of the show.
Netflix executives defend Chappelle by saying they will not take “The Closer” down and do not want to take away from the creativity of their creators. “Chappelle is one of the most popular stand-up comedians today, and we have a long-standing deal with him… As with our other talent, we work hard to support their creative freedom — even though this means there will always be content on Netflix some people believe is harmful,” wrote Ted Sarandos, Netflix co-CEO in an internal email.
Sarandos also wrote that Netflix would not be removing “The Closer,” even though they will likely be asked to do so.
The executives would rather leave the show up and support expression. “I do believe that our commitment to artistic expression and pleasing our members is the right long term choice for Netflix, and that we are on the right side, but only time will tell. The core strategy is to please our members,” wrote Reed Hastings, Netflix co-CEO.
