Ted Sarandos, Netflix’s co-CEO and chief content officer, has shot down Donald Trump’s calls to remove Susan Rice, a member on Netflix’s board of directors, from her position. Sarandos stated that the current negotiations to buy Warner Bros. are about business and not politics.
What did Donald Trump say about Susan Rice?
Trump called on Netflix to remove Rice from her position on Netflix’s board of directors. Rice is a former US ambassador and was a national security advisor under the Obama and Biden administrations, according to Business Insider.
“Netflix should fire racist Trump deranged Susan Rice immediately, or pay the consequences,” read a post published by MAGA influencer Laura Loomer on Truth Social, which was then reshared by Trump on Saturday.
Trump’s reshare came after a recent appearance from Rice on a podcast during which she said that corporations that “take a knee to Trump” may face retribution under a future Democratic administration.
Sarandos addressed Trump’s remarks head on: “He likes to do a lot of things on social media,” he told BBC Radio 4 during an interview on Monday, according to Variety. “This is a business deal. It’s not a political deal. This deal is run by the Department of Justice in the U.S. and regulators throughout Europe and around the world.”
Sarandos referred to Netflix’s current bid to buy Warner Bros. and ongoing battle against Paramount to secure a deal.
Netflix and Paramount have been in negotiations to buy Warner Bros.
Both Netflix and Paramount are currently trying to secure a deal to buy Warner Bros. The deal would require approval from the Department of Justice’s antitrust division. Trump previously said he “shouldn’t be involved” in the deal. Yet, he advocated for Rice’s removal from Netflix’s board of directors over the weekend.
Sarandos told the BBC that Netflix’s goal in buying Warner Bros. would be “growth in the economy.” The streaming company is looking to buy Warner Bros. streaming and studio assets, while Paramount seeks to purchase the entire company, Business Insider reported.
Netflix offered a bid in December worth $83 billion. A few days later, Paramount offered a rival bid at $108 billion. Although Warner Bros. has expressed a preference for Netflix’s offer, it gave Paramount until the end of Monday to come up with a final offer.
Sarandos has criticized Paramount’s bid, which he qualified as potential being “the classic horizontal media mergers that are always bad for consumers, always bad for creators,” per Variety. He added that if Paramount buys Warner Bros. there would only be four major studios in Hollywood instead of five.
“You look at that and think, ‘Wow, this industry will be much smaller under that ownership than it would be under Netflix ownership,’” Sarandos said, according to Variety.
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