Netflix boss Ted Sarandos has responded to a social media call from Donald Trump to fire board member Susan Rice.
“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 told BBC Radio 4’s flagship Today program on Monday.
His comments came as Netflix and Paramount are battling to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery. Currently serving as a Netflix board member, Rice formerly served as the U.S. National Security Advisor from 2013-2017 and the Domestic Policy Advisor from 2021-2023 during Democratic administrations.
Sarandos also brushed off a question about Trump intervening directly as the bidding for Warner Bros. plays out by adding: “He likes to do a lot of things on social media.” The Netflix co-CEO, who was in London for the BAFTA Awards on Sunday night, also talked up his bid for WBD ahead of a Monday deadline for rival bidder Paramount to submit a “best and final” offer.
Sarandos argued a Warner Bros. tie-up with Netflix would amount to more growth in original content investment and Hollywood overall. “This is a vertical merger. We’re buying a movie studio and a distribution entity that we don’t currently have – we’ll be adding to the market, where Paramount has committed that they’re going to cut $6 billion out of the business right away … This industry will be much smaller under that ownership than it would be under the Netflix version,” Sarandos told the UK pubcaster.
He also reiterated his opposition to James Cameron’s endorsement of Paramount in the bidding process for WBD. “It doesn’t hurt. I would say it was quite confusing,” Sarandos said after insisting he had met with Cameron in Dec. 2025 and committed Netflix to 45-day exclusivity for Warner Bros. movies should his company prevail in its takeover of the Hollywood studio.
“We spent five minutes of our conversation on that (windowing), and we talked mostly about these glasses that he’s developing for Meta to watch movies at home,” he added. Sarandos’ latest response followed Cameron sending a letter to Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) arguing that allowing Netflix to purchase the studio will deal a disastrous blow to movie theaters and weaken an essential cog of the Hollywood machinery in a way that will lead to substantial job losses.
The director claimed Sarandos planned to pursue a 17-day theatrical window, despite the Netflix boss saying he will keep Warner Bros. movies in theaters for 45 days.