Co-CEO, President & Director, Netflix Inc
GOP Senators Blast Netflix Co-CEO Ted Sarandos: The 2 Moments You Can’t Miss!
In this intense Senate hearing, GOP Senators Josh Hawley and Eric Schmitt grilled the streaming executive over the controversial content distributed across the Netflix platform.
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About Theodore Sarandos
Ted Sarandos, co-CEO of Netflix, has been active in public appearances discussing the company's strategy and responding to regulatory scrutiny. In a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing, Senator Josh Hawley pressed Sarandos on the proposed Netflix–Warner Bros. merger, labor practices, and children's programming. Hawley accused Netflix of promoting a "transgender ideology" in children's content, which Sarandos denied, stating that Netflix has "no political agenda of any kind" and that the platform offers a wide variety of programming to meet diverse tastes. Sarandos also committed under oath to a 45-day or longer theatrical release window for major Warner Bros. films, and said domestic production would increase, with content spend forecast to grow to $20 billion. On business strategy, Sarandos discussed Netflix's expansion into live sports, including NFL games, describing it as part of a "live event strategy" that started with comedy. He said Netflix is not bidding on whole seasons but is looking to add value to leagues and expand audiences. Sarandos also addressed the company's financial outlook, maintaining guidance for 12-14% revenue growth and a 31.5% operating margin in 2026, with plans to double the advertising business to about $3 billion. He commented on AI in entertainment, saying it will "unlock the ability to tell stories you couldn't before" but that it requires great storytellers. Regarding production costs, Sarandos stated that California has not been competitive for production, and that Netflix has filmed in all 50 states, with a new $1.3 billion studio in Fort Monmouth, New Jersey.
Transcript (50 segments)
✨ AI-enhanced transcript with speaker attribution
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Narrator0:00
Netflix co-CEO Theodore Sarandos faced a Senate firestorm as GOP Senator Holly and GOP Senator Schmidt took aim at the platform's content. It was a heated confrontation from start to finish. We've captured the two biggest moments right here.
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Senator Holly0:14
Ask about something else related to children. Why is it that so much of Netflix content for children promotes a transgender ideology? Almost half of your content for children—I'm talking about minor children now, not teenagers—promotes a transgender ideology agenda. I was just looking at the data here from your various series. What concerns me is that just two days ago, a jury in New York awarded a former transitioner $2 million because she said that her psychologists and others pressured her into an ideology that proved to be extremely detrimental. In the UK, the National Health Service has said they're not going to perform transgender surgeries or so-called gender-affirming care for minors, including in counseling, because it is so incredibly detrimental. Our own HHS has come forward with similar findings this past year. Yet, if you turn on Netflix, you'll find that an enormous amount—and I say this as a parent with three young children—of your children's programming has this ideology and agenda in it. Is this an advocacy position for Netflix? Is this an ideological commitment you have? Why is this?
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Theodore Sarandos1:35
Senator Holly, Netflix has no political agenda of any kind. I would tell you that.
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Senator Holly1:39
Well, then why is your children's program so full of this highly sexualized, highly controversial agenda? I don't understand it. It seems strange to me.
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Theodore Sarandos1:51
Respectfully, sir, it's because it's inaccurate. We have millions of hours of children's programming.
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Senator Holly1:56
You're saying it's not there? You don't feature trans characters, trans storylines, trans themes? It's not in your programming?
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Theodore Sarandos2:01
I'm saying we feature a wide variety of stories and programs to meet a wide variety of people's tastes.
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Senator Holly2:09
Why does almost half of your children's program feature this highly controversial, highly sexualized material? Why? That seems strange to me. It can't possibly be a reflection of the population.
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Theodore Sarandos2:22
Senator, I don't have any idea where that number would come from or what that would be. I don't believe that's been your personal experience, but I can't speak to that.
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Senator Holly2:30
Well, what do you mean you don't think it's been my personal experience? You don't think that I monitor what my children watch? Here's what I tell you what my personal experience is since you bring it up. My personal experience is that my three children—I can't let them watch anything they want on Netflix. I can't let them watch anything on Netflix unless I preview it because I don't have confidence in what's on your platform. I don't know what they're going to encounter. And I tell you what, I don't want my kids being pushed an agenda about their sexuality or gender identity when I have not had the opportunity first to discuss it with them and to form them in that. And I frankly, on behalf of parents around the country, it offends me that Netflix is pushing this content at parents in what seems to be a very coordinated, thought-through, planned-out agenda in a way that frankly I think undermines parents. Certainly undermines me and my wife. We have to watch every show beforehand before we can let our kids watch it. Now, I don't know. That seems pretty concerning to me. I know you make a gob of money on it and maybe that's the answer, but it just seems to me that it's a disservice to the parents of this country, particularly given what's happening with our youth on this subject.
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Theodore Sarandos3:36
Senator, if I may answer, like I said, we have millions of hours of content on Netflix at any given time. We have state-of-the-art tools for you to manage those choices for your children and to block any title that you might be offended by for any reason. So, this is—we are parents at Netflix as well. We share all your concerns about raising kids and also the ability to raise them as you see fit in your household and anyone else's household as well.
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Senator Holly4:02
My concern is that you don't share my values or those of many other American parents and you want the United States government to allow you to become one of the largest, if not the largest streaming monopolist in the world. I think we ought to be concerned about what content you're promoting. Thank you.
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Senator Schmidt4:18
You are currently the co-CEO of Netflix. Is that correct?
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Theodore Sarandos4:22
That is correct, sir.
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Senator Schmidt4:23
Okay. And until recently, you were the chief content officer. Is that correct?
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Theodore Sarandos4:27
It's been a couple years now. Yeah, but yes.
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Senator Schmidt4:29
Okay. Do you think Netflix is a powerful company?
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Theodore Sarandos4:34
We're a successful company.
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Senator Schmidt4:36
Okay. I think it's pretty powerful. That's probably why we're here today, right? To judge whether or not it becomes anti-competitive in some particular way because of the power that it wields. You just said a moment ago that Netflix does not have a political agenda. Do you think Netflix is a politically biased company?
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Theodore Sarandos4:55
No, sir, I do not.
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Senator Schmidt4:56
Okay. Would it surprise you if I told you what percentage of donations from Netflix employees and other folks affiliated with Netflix go to Republicans versus Democrats?
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Theodore Sarandos5:08
I saw a number published a while ago. It's very high Democrat.
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Senator Schmidt5:13
Like 99%.
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Theodore Sarandos5:14
Could be. Yeah.
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Senator Schmidt5:14
Yeah, that seems pretty high. Do you think that indicates any kind of bias by the company? Sir, Netflix doesn't have a political giving arm. It does not have an active PAC. We don't influence our employees to do anything and our employees can support issues and candidates at their will.
Okay. On June 20th, 2020 on its X page, Netflix posted a video titled, quote, 'To my white friends, guilt, shame, embarrassment.' End quote. And saying, quote, 'We need to do everything in our power to amplify that message.' Do you stand by that statement?
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Theodore Sarandos5:51
I have no recall of that statement at all.
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Senator Schmidt5:53
Okay. I just read it to you. Do you have an opinion about it?
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Theodore Sarandos5:55
I don't have any idea what context it's in or anything.
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Senator Schmidt5:58
Okay. In the wake of the George Floyd riots on June 20th, Netflix posted on its page 'To my white friends, guilt, shame, embarrassment.' What does that mean?
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Theodore Sarandos6:08
I think that is an uncharacteristic post that I deeply regret if that got posted that way.
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Senator Schmidt6:12
Okay. Well, it did. Netflix also said on May 30th, 'To be silent is to be complicit.' I'm just reading you some things that Netflix posted at the time. So, you don't stand by that statement then?
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Theodore Sarandos6:26
As I said, sir, we have no political agenda. Posting something like that would be quite political, but I would agree.
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Senator Schmidt6:31
Yes, I would agree. And I would say I hope that that wouldn't happen again.
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Theodore Sarandos6:37
Yes, I would agree. And I would say I hope that that wouldn't happen again.
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Senator Schmidt6:41
Okay. Netflix also said on June 10th, 2020 that to implement the BLM, the Black Lives Matter agenda, Netflix understood, quote, 'that our commitment to true systemic change will take time.' Do you still think that takes time? Are you still actively engaged in this effort?
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Theodore Sarandos6:56
Again, so we're not engaged in political efforts like that.
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Senator Schmidt6:59
Okay. Any longer and you're not? You were, but you're not now.
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Theodore Sarandos7:04
I'm again—I can't think of a period of time. Okay. I think the time you're talking about was quite a volatile time for many companies.
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Senator Schmidt7:10
I think a lot of people said things they regret then. I'm just trying to figure out if they actually regret it or not. I'm not going to get into your quotes on DEI, but it seems that both you and Netflix have made a habit of promoting DEI and wokeness. I'll just give a few examples. Netflix content is synonymous for the modern phenomenon of race swapping both historical and fictional characters. Just a few examples. Netflix made black Vikings. Netflix changed Cleopatra from Macedonian to black. Achilles changed from Greek to black. Netflix overtly sexualizes children in its Cuties film related to pre-teen girls. You mentioned earlier that you can block titles. I'm not sure blocking the word Cuties would shield kids from the over sexualized content in Cuties. So, I'm not sure that's sufficient enough. Netflix continues to push sexual and gender theory on kids. And maybe this is what was being referred to earlier. 41% of G-rated kid approved series contain LGBTQIA plus content. You are the co-CEO. You were the chief content officer until recently. Yes or no? Does Netflix stand by its content production decisions?
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Theodore Sarandos8:20
Senator Schmidt, we have a great deal of programming on Netflix for all left, right, and center. We have state-of-the-art tools for parents to manage what their kids see on Netflix. You could block anything. What you just described is exactly how it works. You block that title.
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Senator Schmidt8:40
But why would I block Cuties? What if a G-rated movie came out called Cuties, why would I have any belief as a parent that would be related to over sexualized kids?
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Theodore Sarandos8:52
That film you're speaking of is an R-rated adult movie for adults, not for kids. And the larger point, sir, is that of all the American values that we all share—and I understand parenthood is hard, I understand it's a difficult world that we all navigate—but the one we value a lot is the First Amendment, a lot of that is freedom of speech. And what I want to do is give creators a place to tell their stories and parents a place to control.
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Senator Schmidt9:15
I have no problem with a wide variety of content that's not the issue. This is America, but I guess the point I'm making is that your company has made overtly political statements, has moved an agenda of DEI. You have Susan Rice on your board, the founder of sort of Barack Obama's DEI agenda. 99% of your employees contribute to Democrats to the tune of hundreds of millions of dollars. Your content's over sexualized for kids. You're engaged in this very woke programming overwhelmingly. You do have some other options, but overwhelmingly. So the question before this committee and you come before Congress, why in the world would we give a seal of approval or a thumbs up to make you the largest behemoth on the planet related to content? It seems as though you have engaged in creating not only a monopoly of content potentially, but the wokest content in the history of the world. So forgive me if I'm a little concerned, not only as a parent, but also that somebody believes that we ought to have a wide variety of content options. There are some, but the overwhelming majority of your stuff right now is overwhelmingly woke and it's not reflective of what the American people want to see.
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Theodore Sarandos10:21
So, respectfully, if you ask a Netflix member today or a consumer today generally how they view Netflix, I think that a proof point that we might be doing the right thing is they talk about Netflix in the exact same terms as they talk about the country. About 40% conservative, about 40% liberal, and about 20% don't know. The properties you can look for and you can search for a character, an image—
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Senator Schmidt10:50
But that's not what those are not the statistics I gave you.
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Theodore Sarandos10:51
I don't know what those statistics are.
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Senator Schmidt10:51
40% of your content for G-rated stuff has LGBTQIA themes.
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Theodore Sarandos10:58
So, I don't respectfully. We're happy to follow up and I'd love to get a response. I'd love to engage with your staff and figure out how they love to continue the conversation. Thank you.
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Narrator11:06
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