Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos said his decision to stand by Dave Chappelle and his Netflix special, The Closer, after backlash about what was seen as transphobic jokes was not an easy choice, but one that he continues to stand by.
“They’re never easy calls. But I think it’s rooted in a principle of protecting free speech and expression,” Sarandos said.
Speaking at an event at the Paley Center For Media, where Sarandos was interviewed by Semafor editor-in-chief Ben Smith, Sarandos was asked whether there are certain lines he would not cross for standup specials on the show, including the decision to order three comedy specials from Tony Hinchcliffe, after the comedian made derogatory remarks about Puerto Rico and at rally for Donald Trump.
“The cost of entry is you do have to be funny for enough people, so there’s a bit of a juice worth the squeeze argument,” Sarandos said.
“I was always a big standup comedy fan, and I knew that the art form itself always needed a safe place to try things out,” Sarandos said, comparing the current debate to the previous pushback against Lenny Bruce, George Carlin and Richard Pryor. “I think comedians define the culture in a bunch of ways, and they do that by figuring out where the lines are and the joke is.”
As part of the wide-ranging discussion, Smith also asked Sarandos about the decision to strike multi-million deals with Ryan Murphy, Shonda Rhimes and Kenya Barris in the earlier days of Netflix and whether that was a mistake. Sarandos said it was necessary at the time, as ABC, Disney and others would not sell their shows to Netflix.
But he added that the first-look or overall deals themselves are “not great” for the company, and that it still involves saying no to certain projects from the creators, and working with them to find the hits.
“You hope to get a big hit out of one of them. Sometimes you get two. It’s a portfolio, for sure,” Sarandos said.
Asked about Netflix’s multiyear production deal with the Obamas, and whether that has been a success, Sarandos called their projects “prestige television” rather than commercial. He did not comment on whether the platform would renew their deal.
“I think there’s an element of prestige television that they brought to it. They’re not big commercial projects, but that’s not what they were trying to do. They were getting their legs underneath them with their production company, which they definitely have. We have a lot more coming up with them,” Sarandos said.
As for why Netflix is not making a bigger push in movie theaters, Sarandos pointed to the fact that theatrical box office is still down, compared to pre-pandemic, and that the trend continues for more people to watch movies at home.
On the other side of the political front, Sarandos was asked about his meeting at Mar-a-Lago with Trump in December.
“We didn’t talk any shop,” Sarandos said. “We had a nice long dinner together.” He added that Trump said Melania and Barron were Netflix fans.
And finally, as the search for a Bob Iger successor continues, Smith asked: Has Sarandos been asked to be the new Disney CEO? “No one’s ever talked to me about that,” Sarandos said.