The 2021 Netflix walkout was a labor dispute involving a number of workers at American streaming and production company Netflix in late 2021. After several workers spoke out against The Closer, a controversial stand-up comedy created by Dave Chappelle special released by Netflix, the company's response sparked further controversy, leading to a walkout organized by the Netflix trans employee resource group.

During the four-year period of 2017–2020, GLAAD's annual Studio Responsibility Index found that major studios had produced no films with transgender or nonbinary characters. In 2012, GLAAD reviewed 102 episodes and storylines of scripted television containing transgender characters, finding that "54% of those were categorized as containing negative representations at the time of their airing" while another 35% ranged from "problematic" to "good," with only 12% considered "groundbreaking, fair and accurate" to such an extent that they could win a GLAAD Media Award.

Research has found that viewing multiple transgender TV characters and stories improves viewers' attitudes toward transgender people and related policies.^{[failed verification]}

The Closer is a 2021 stand-up comedy special written and performed by Dave Chappelle for Netflix. In the special, released on October 5, 2021, Chappelle has segments that joke about the discrimination against the African-American community relative to the discrimination against the LGBTQ community, including one where he states that he is "Team TERF." The special sparked controversy, receiving heavy criticism for the comments perceived as transphobic and racist. GLAAD issued a statement saying that Chappelle's "brand has become synonymous with ridiculing trans people and other marginalized communities." David Johns, the executive director of the National Black Justice Coalition, released a statement asking Netflix to remove The Closer from its service, saying that "[p]erpetuating transphobia perpetuates violence."

On October 7, Netflix suspended Terra Field, a trans employee, after she posted a Twitter thread stating that "we launched another Chappelle special where he attacks the trans community, and the very validity of transness – all while trying to pit us against other marginalized groups" which went viral. Netflix alleged that Field, as well as two other employees, had attempted to gain access to a director-level meeting without permission. Dear White People writer Jaclyn Moore additionally announced that she would no longer collaborate with Netflix, stating the company continues to "put out and profit from blatantly and dangerously homophobic content."

On October 8, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos defended the special's release in a memo sent to employees, saying that "[w]e don't allow titles on Netflix that are designed to incite hate or violence, and we don't believe The Closer crosses that line."

Following Sarandos' statement, the trans employee resource group at Netflix announced they would stage a walkout on October 20, stating in a message that the streaming company had failed them "by repeatedly releasing content that harms the Trans community and continually failing to create content that represents and uplifts Trans content." That day, Field and the two other employees who had been suspended were reinstated.

Soon after the employee resource group's threat of a walkout, Sarandos defended the special once again in a company-wide email saying "[w]ith 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.)" and that "[w]hile some employees disagree, we have a strong belief that content on screen doesn't directly translate to real-world harm". On October 15, it was reported that Netflix had fired one of the lead organizers of the walkout, a Black trans person who is pregnant, allegedly for leaking nonpublic financial information to Bloomberg News.