There have been reports of the United States Department of Justice conducting a ‘broad review’ of streaming giant Netflix’s business practices amid its recent bid to acquire Warner Bros Discovery. However, the streamer’s co-CEO Ted Sarandos has said in a new interview that the investigation is done and they are ‘in the clear’.
Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos clarifies Justice Department probe
In an interview with Bloomberg News, Ted Sarandos spoke about the ongoing DoJ inquiry and said that much of what was reported earlier was ‘inaccurate’. The Netflix executive said, “This was completely normal. This story has been fed out to everybody, but it’s just not accurate. We were not only involved with the DOJ, we were involved with 50 regulatory bodies around the world. These things have been going exactly the way they should.”
Sarandos added that President Donald Trump remained neutral on the deal and that the Department of Justice followed its usual procedure. “It was not a group of bipartisan AGs. It was a group of Republican AGs. This deal is approved by the Department of Justice, not by the Senate or by the committee. The president stayed completely neutral on this. The DOJ was doing what they do, and they had been quite diligent,” he added.
When asked if Netflix was prepared for this kind of ‘political resistance’ to their bid to acquire Warner Bros Discovery, the co-CEO clarified, “I don’t know that there was growing political resistance. It was a growing narrative of political resistance. But we were on a normal regulatory path. I was in DC on Thursday for a scheduled meeting with the DOJ from a couple of weeks ago to go through some questions about the deal. It was a very productive meeting, nothing out of the ordinary. Nothing had shifted or changed dramatically that hauled me to (Washington) DC.”
Netflix’s failed bid to acquire Warner Bros
Last year, Netflix launched an $83-billion bid to acquire Warner Bros. Discovery, one of Hollywood’s biggest studios. The deal faced significant opposition from both the film industry and American government circles. The US government inquiry began a few months later. Last week, Netflix eventually withdrew from negotiations with Warner Bros after rival Paramount made an $111-billion offer for the studio. The Warner Bros board has since okayed the Paramount offer, and it is expected to be finalised later this year.
