Netflix Went Woke and Paid the Price | The American Spectator

It isn’t too often that conservatives can take a victory lap in the culture war, but Netflix’s announcement that it was abandoning its attempt to purchase Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) is one of those occasions.

The collapse of the deal marked a rare moment when Washington, Wall Street, the conservative grassroots, and everyday viewers could all stand up and cheer. (RELATED: The Netflix-Warner Bros. Merger — Is ‘Going to the Movies’ Over?)

Netflix was skilfully outmaneuvered by Paramount Skydance in attempting to buy WBD — and it was conservatives who laid the groundwork for Netflix’s defeat. (RELATED: Netflix Doesn’t Want Competition — It Wants Narrative Control)

Given how woke Netflix has gone, the victory couldn’t be sweeter.

When the acquisition of WBD was first announced, conservatives recognized the threat immediately. Netflix has a long history of pushing progressive issues, from their children’s programming, which features trans propaganda, to their political giving to Democrats.

Allowing Netflix to absorb WBD would have given a progressive company singlehanded control over a vast galaxy of movies, TV shows, and other content.

Conservative opposition led to the political pressure and scrutiny that ultimately made Netflix’s takeover attempt far more fragile than the company ever expected.

Per an article in the New York Post, reports such as the Oversight Project’s viral study demonstrating that Netflix shows “often push themes such as transgenderism, DEI (diversity, equity, and inclusion), and other issues near and dear to the cultural left” played an instrumental role in tanking the Netflix deal.

On top of all that, Susan Rice, a Netflix board member, chose this moment to go on a podcast and basically threaten businesses that are supportive of President Trump. She stated that Trump supporters who doubt that Democrats will make them pay for their political allegiance “got another thing coming.” (RELATED: Susan Rice Goes Full Fascist)

After seeing posts on X about Rice’s commentary from MAGA-aligned social media influencers, Trump immediately demanded that Netflix fire Rice from its board. Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos shrugged off the president.

By that point, the writing was on the wall.

Sarandos “didn’t fully grasp how big of a deal the Susan Rice demands were,” said one person familiar with internal discussions who spoke to Politico. Sarandos traveled to the White House in an attempt to repair the relationship, but within hours, the acquisition was called off. WBD instead made a deal with Paramount, run by vocal Trump donor Larry Ellison.

Had it gone through, the Netflix deal was facing steep regulatory hurdles and doubts over whether it could win approval. As for the new Warner–Paramount bargain? By Tuesday, FCC chair Brendan Carr was telling CNBC  that he expected the merger to win approval “pretty quickly.”

Netflix approached the acquisition of Warner Bros. as a business deal, with Sarandos insisting that politics played no role. Paramount and Ellison, by contrast, understood that when it comes to anything running through Washington, political considerations are just as important as shareholder bottom lines.

The icing on the cake is that at the end of the day, consumers came out winners too, with a more competitive streaming market and, perhaps, one less far-left news channel to drive them crazy (Paramount’s deal includes the company taking over CNN).

“There’s a lot of concerns when Netflix was the potential buyer there,” Carr told CNBC. “That particular combination raised a lot of competition concerns.” By contrast, the Paramount offer is “a lot cleaner, does not raise at all the same types of concerns. I think there’s some real consumer benefits that can emerge from it.”

The lesson for corporate America is obvious. Companies that spend years lecturing half the country about politics shouldn’t be surprised when that half of the country starts paying attention to their business decisions.

Conservative opposition helped bring political scrutiny, investor skepticism, and regulatory pressure to the Netflix deal, which ultimately doomed it. Paramount may have won the bidding war, but conservatives won the larger battle, proving that cultural power in America doesn’t belong solely to Silicon Valley boardrooms.

Chabot is a former congressman from Ohio. He served on the House Judiciary Committee.

READ MORE:

Susan Rice Goes Full Fascist

The Netflix-Warner Bros. Merger — Is ‘Going to the Movies’ Over?

Netflix Doesn’t Want Competition — It Wants Narrative Control