Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos shrugged off President Donald Trump's demand that the streaming giant remove former Barack Obama administration official Susan Rice from its board.
He told the BBC's "Today" program on Monday that the company's pending $70 billion acquisition of Warner Bros. Discovery is a business matter, not a political one.
"This is a business deal. It's not a political deal," Sarandos said. "This deal is run by the Department of Justice in the U.S., and regulators throughout Europe and around the world."
Over the weekend, Trump posted on Truth Social that Netflix should fire Rice or "pay the consequences," escalating tensions between the White House and the streaming company as regulators prepare to evaluate the proposed acquisition.
The president's comments came after conservative influencer Laura Loomer accused Rice of advancing an agenda of "retribution" should Democrats return to power.
Rice, in a recent interview on the "Stay Tuned with Preet" podcast hosted by former U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, warned corporations that "take a knee" to Trump to expect to be "held accountable" if Democrats regain control of the government.
"If these corporations think that the Democrats, when they come back in power, are going to ... forgive you for all the people you fired," she said, "all the policies and principles you've violated ... I think they've got another thing coming."
When asked by the BBC how big a deal it was for the president to weigh in on Rice, Sarandos said, "He likes to do a lot of things on social media."
The comments come at a delicate time for Netflix, which is competing with Paramount to buy Warner Bros. Discovery, Business Insider reported.
A deal would require approval from the Justice Department's antitrust division.
Sarandos has previously pushed back on allegations that Netflix maintains a left-leaning political bias, according to The Hill.
During a recent Capitol Hill hearing, he argued that YouTube remains Netflix's largest competitor in the streaming marketplace, underscoring what he described as the company's need to scale in an increasingly crowded industry.
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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