In a twist worthy of a Netflix drama, ousted chief content officer Bela Bajaria only learned of her firing at 5p.m. on Wednesday before a VIP screening of “Nobody Wants This” — after the streamer had repeatedly reassured her that her job was secure, sources tell Page Six Hollywood.
An announcement went out yesterday saying Bajaria was out after nearly 10 years, and that well-respected former Disney TV head Peter Rice was her replacement. But the news leaked earlier on Thursday in Puck.
“She got f–ked — she got blindsided,” says a source with knowledge of the tick tock surrounding Bajaria’s ouster and the layoffs. The source said that, “she knew there were rumors,” she’d be let go, but was told in recent weeks that her job was safe.
The exec only learned the news just before a VIP screening of Erin and Sara Foster‘s “Nobody Wants This,” which debuts on Oct. 22, sources said.
On Wednesday, Netflix laid off 1,000 workers — and Bajaria was asked by the streamer to conduct some of the layoffs, not knowing she’d be next on the chopping block and that her replacement was lined up to be announced, we hear.
Multiple sources told us that Bajaria was spotted at company Town Halls and meetings amidst the cuts, reassuring her remaining staffers — without knowing she’d be next in the line of fire mere hours later.
In a town that traditionally lives by the Oscar Wilde maxim, “A true friend stabs you in the front,” some Hollywood pros blanched at how Bajaria was dispatched.
“What was extra s–ty is that they made her go to these Town Halls and meetings of team leaders to be like, ‘This is a hard day,’ and to be all supportive and calm,” said one insider. “It’s like, just tell her to her face. They could have just fired her.”
Multiple sources around town said on Thursday they thought Bajaria was a “scapegoat” for Netflix’s financial woes, especially after its failed attempted acquisition of Warner Bros. Some said the company needed to make a move and sacrifice a top exec before an earnings call next week. “The problem with Netflix is they have two CEOs making over $100 million, plus a CFO,” huffed an industry vet.
“I’m a little perplexed,” said a top Hollywood agent. “Netflix is definitely looking for their next hit. They don’t have anything to replace ‘Stranger Things.’ They don’t have that big show that’s on deck. But how the f–k do you blame that on Bela? Other people have greenlight authority [too]. Bella was grabbing NFL rights and wrestling. I think Netflix is one of those weird new age digital corporations that’s like, ‘change is good.’ They are losing subscribers and the stock is down.”
We reported exclusively back in March that HBO CEO Casey Bloys was seen having lunch with Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos at Superba in Hollywood, a regular haunt for Netflix execs. That meal sparked growing rumors that Bloys could join Netflix, but the exec was more recently named the head of streaming at David Ellison‘s Skydance.
Bajaria was known for running nearly 30 international offices for Netflix and globalizing the brand, while relentlessly crisscrossing the globe for co-productions. “She bled for the company… she sacrificed her family and her friends, and now she’s a sacrificial lamb,” said a source. “It’s sad.” But, “She’ll get another job in five minutes.” Bajaria had been chief content officer since 2023.
The announcement that Bajaria had been fired, and was being replaced by former Fox and Disney exec Rice sent shockwaves through the industry.
“It’s like the last days of Babylon over here,” said a Netflix employee when asked about the mood inside the streamer’s Hollywood offices. “People are losing their minds over this. They’re either popping champagne or cowering in their offices.”
During Bajaria’s four year run as its top programmer, Netflix effectively won the streaming wars. But more recently subscriber engagement on the platform plunged, and Netflix has been largely shut out of the awards race while the stock is down after its failed bid to acquire Warners.
Some also questioned the purchase of Ben Affleck’s AI company for nearly $600 million.
Bajaria came up through CBS and then Universal TV before landing at Netflix in 2016, and had a reputation for embracing more mass market content. She famously described her programming strategy as a “gourmet cheeseburger” in a New Yorker profile, and it was on her watch that Netflix expanded into live events, videocasting and game shows — genres Netflix co-founders Sarandos and Reed Hastings vowed they would never get into.
But in recent years, the film and TV business has shifted as competition has grown. Netflix has been hemorrhaging talent with the Duffer Bros leaving for Paramount, Shawn Levy heading to Disney and David Fincher‘s recent exit. “If you’re Ted Sarandos, you’re not walking on any cool red carpets anymore with any cool people,” says one producer with business at Netflix. “When [Scott] Stuber was there, Ted was on some f–king cool red carpets and you had some cool movies. You make it cool by making filmmakers relevant again.”
According to another producer, “Just a few years ago, [Netflix] was teeming with A-listers. You always ran into someone notable, even in the post-Covid era. Now, the lobby is dead.”
The question inside Netflix is now how long Dan Lin will hold on to his job as film chairman.
According to a source, Lin met with Sarandos inside Netflix headquarters yesterday for over an hour and emerged rattled, but still employed.
Most people across the industry weren’t holding out too much hope for Lin to hang on to his job. “He’s Sean Penn in ‘Dead Man Walking,'” said a source.
Either way, Rice is being largely praised across town. He takes the new role after we exclusively reported that the former Fox exec was seen dining with Ynon Kreiz, the new co-CEO of the merged Paramount and Warner Bros., last month at Marea in Beverly Hills.
“He’s a mature, disciplined executive who has good creative tastes and I think it signals a level of maturity and discipline and an understanding inside Netflix of where they are in their life cycle,” says a producer of Rice, who was chairman of both Walt Disney Television and general entertainment for the Walt Disney Company.
WME’s Robert Newman was even willing to go on the record: “The moment Disney made the tragic mistake of letting him go, virtually every A-list filmmaker in the business lined up to work with him as a producer. There’s no question he will have the same impact at Netflix, serving as a magnet for the greatest storytellers and performers in the world,” said Newman. “This was a brilliant masterstroke by Ted Sarandos, and I predict Netflix will see tremendous results from this move very soon.”
“I want to thank Bela for a decade of dedication, innovation, creativity and leadership,” said Sarandos in a press release yesterday. “She led enormous changes at Netflix. She helped broaden our content offering to include the large-scale expansion of unscripted programming and the launches of live events and sports, in addition to crafting and running a world class, global slate of films and series. I’m incredibly grateful for everything she’s done to help Netflix entertain the world.”
Reps for Netflix did not comment.