say what?

Rose McGowan blasts Netflix staff who walked out: “whiny” brats and “fake” activists

Rose McGowan
Rose McGowan (Photo: Shutterstock)

Yesterday, some Netflix employees and their supporters staged a walkout and held a rally outside the streaming giant’s Los Angeles headquarters. They took to the streets to protest against the recent airing of the Dave Chappelle comedy special, The Closer, and Netflix’s reaction to the fallout around the show.

Many celebrities voiced their support for the demo, including Elliot Page, Dan Levy, Angelica Ross and Colton Haynes.

Related: Elliot Page and Dan Levy voice support for trans employee walkout at Netflix

One celebrity making it clear she didn’t support the protest was actress Rose McGowan, well-known for being one of the main instigators of the #MeToo movement.

McGowan took to Twitter to call the Netflix employees “whiny” and accused them of “fake activism” simply because their feelings had been hurt by some of Chappelle’s comments about LGBTQ people.

“1) Dear Whiny U.S. @Netflix Employees, I hear your feelings got hurt by Dave Chapelle & upset @JoeRogan didn’t get your fancy schools language memo. Piss off you brats. Enough of your fake activism & obnoxious self-importance.”

She went on to say the employees complaining were happy to be employed by “corrupt” bosses. It’s unclear exactly what McGowan is referring to here, but Netflix will soon be airing an award-nominated 2013 documentary about Wikileaks founder, Julian Assage (entitled We Steal Secrets: The Story of WikiLeaks).

“Do any of you twerps even know your paycheck comes from the deeply corrupt?” said McGowan. “Your bosses are DOJ/CIA stooges in on smearing Assange in a fake documentary meant to misinform. You little Taylors risk NOTHING. It is Zero Hour. Get real or fuck off. Right now it’s about facts not your fucking feelings.”

Given that even Netflix has itself stated it supports the rights of its employees to protest and will endeavor to listen to trans employees, McGowan’s tweet seems particularly harsh.

However, it’s not the first time McGowan’s criticized people for taking offense to words.

Last week, she posted another tweet in support of Assage, saying, “This man is being murdered in slow motion by Lizard Democrats. While fake ‘activists’ scream about what words we use, he is dying. If you want to get real, live in truth, wake the F up & get out of your red/blue cult join us.”

Last month, McGowan, a former Democrat, supported Republican Larry Elder in his bid to unseat Gavin Newsom as governor of California. McGowan told voters at a press conference: “be brave, do something that’s weird—like maybe voting Republican, even though it will feel strange.” She also criticized activists for getting too hung up on language.

Many of her followers praised her for speaking out against the Netflix demo and called her “brave” for doing so.

Others criticized her for dismissing the legitimate concerns of others.

Related: Rose McGowan apologizes to the transgender community

Before yesterday’s walkout, a Netflix spokesperson issued the following statement: “We value our trans colleagues and allies, and understand the deep hurt that’s been caused. We respect the decision of any employee who chooses to walk out, and recognize we have much more work to do both within Netflix and in our content.”

Besides McGowan, others to criticize yesterday’s demo was—surprise, surprise—Colorado Rep. Lauren Boebert. She tweeted a clip of a non-binary campaigner being interviewed at the protest. Boebert mockingly captioned the clip: “These are the employees in Silicon Valley that are censoring you and monitoring your conversations.”

The person in the clip is actually drag queen Eureka O’Hara, a former contestant on RuPaul’s Drag Race. They are not known to work in silicon valley.

Don't forget to share:

Help make sure LGBTQ+ stories are being told...

We can't rely on mainstream media to tell our stories. That's why we don't lock Queerty articles behind a paywall. Will you support our mission with a contribution today?

Cancel anytime · Proudly LGBTQ+ owned and operated