There were several reasons why streaming giant Netflix pulled out of the bidding war for Warner Bros. Discovery. You might want to add Susan Rice to the list.
The former Obama national security adviser, UN ambassador, partisan Democrat and currently a Netflix board member made a splash last week, and not in a good way.
Just as the Trump administration’s Department of Justice was weighing the antitrust merits of the deal, former Obama national security adviser, UN ambassador, partisan Democrat and currently Netflix board member Rice appeared last week on a podcast hosted by Preet Bharara, former US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, a longtime Democrat and also a frequent critic of the president.
Rice warned that corporations that “take a knee” when dealing with to the Trump administration demands on various matters should expect to be “held accountable” if Dems return to power.
“If these corporations think that the Democrats, when they come back in power, . . . are going to, you know, play by the old rules, and, you know, . . . say, ‘Oh, never mind. We’ll forgive you for all the people you fired, all the policies and principles you’ve violated, all, you know, the laws you’ve skirted.’ I think they’ve got another thing coming,” Rice added.
Lets just say when the president heard about Rice’s remarks, Trump wasn’t too happy. He responded on Truth Social, “Netflix should fire racist, Trump Deranged Susan Rice, IMMEDIATELY, or pay the consequences.” he posted on his Truth Social account on Saturday.
The timing was particularly bad because the DOJ was cranking up its inquiry into Netflix’s then nearly completed, $73 billion purchase of WBD’s studio and streamer, including whether its purchase of HBO Max layered on its own streaming service constituted a monopoly that could hurt consumers.
The regulatory heat had become so great that Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos launched a charm offensive with his team of lobbyists that the streaming giant wasn’t looking to price gouge. Sarandos himself showed up at the White House to press the flesh and meet with Trump AG Pam Bondi and members of the DOJ’s antitrust staff amid the backdrop of Rice’s threat.
A few hours after the meeting ended later, Netflix pulled itself out of the bidding war, handing the company to Paramount Skydance, which recently increased its bid to $80.5 billion. In announcing the move, Sarandos citied the ever growing price of the deal.
My sources say the DOJ indicated to Sarandos it had antitrust concerns about the WBD deal despite his argument that competition from YouTube negates them.
But Rice’s remarks didn’t make Sarandos’ job any easier, I am told by people close to the administration. One senior Trump regulatory official even quipped with a laugh that Sarandos should have “let Susan Rice tag along” to his DOJ sitdown.
A Netflix rep said Sarandos’ meeting was unrelated to Rice and set up two weeks ago. Rice could not be reached for comment
