Reed Hastings, the CEO of Netflix, has spoken out about his stance on “inclusion riders” and it has fans furious.
“We’re not so big on doing everything through agreements,” Hastings said a press meeting. “We’re trying to do things creatively.” USA Today reports that Hastings prefers his staff to work directly with the filmmakers to make sure that productions are all-inclusive and diverse.
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“That’s how we look at it,” he added.
Explaining more in-depth what it is, comedian Whitney Cummings previously tweeted, “An inclusion rider is something actors put into their contracts to ensure gender and racial equality in hiring on movies sets. We should support this for a billion reasons, but if you can’t find a reason to, here’s one: it will make movies better.”
Many have been very frustrated with Hastings attitude toward inclusion riders, seeming to perceive his comments as flippant, with one person tweeting, “Dont make me cancel you.”
@reedhastings you might want to reconsider inclusion riders. Leaving it up to creative bros to be fair is how we got here.
— Black Lash (@BlacklashAZ) March 7, 2018
“Say it ain’t so Netflix… you all need to get in front of this this is going to look really really bad… diversity don’t hurt it helps,” another wrote.”
“Coming from a company with those percentages of mostly white men in positions of power I can understand why [Reed Hastings] said what he did,” someone else quipped.
Taking an opportunity to challenge Hastings on his approach to diversity, one Twitter user responded, “There are a load of reasons why informal discussions could be ineffective in changing the diversity of casting. [Reed Hastings] – if you don’t think inclusion riders are the right answer, you need to come up with something better and *put it in writing*.”
2 words INCLUSION RIDERS or I’m out @reedhastings ::::me – a longtime customer of Netflix:::::
— Pam Xami Hall (@Trenchteachers) March 7, 2018
The concept of an inclusion rider became widely talked about after Frances McDormand mentioned it in her Best Actress award acceptance speech at the 2018 Oscars.
“Okay, look around ladies and gentlemen, because we all have stories to tell and projects we need financed. Don’t talk to us about it at the parties tonight; invite us into your office in a couple days or you can come to ours, whichever suits you best. And we’ll tell you all about them,” she said while accepting the Oscar for her role in Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. “I have two words to leave with you tonight ladies and gentlemen: inclusion rider.”
