3 fired Netflix execs made 'critical, personal comments,' CEO says

"These were critical, personal comments made over several months about their peers (not their management as suggested by The Hollywood Reporter)."The Hollywood Reporter article Sarandos was referring to said that the executives were fired for criticizing their bosses.The executives, who accounted for around half of Netflix's staff at that level according to the publication, had also criticized their direct boss, Jonathan Helfgot, the VP of original film marketing, THR reported, which said that while Helfgot himself was reluctant, he ultimately gave in to pressure from more senior leadership to fire the three employees.In a statement to Insider, a Netflix spokesperson disputed the nature of the behavior that led to the apparent firings: "The depiction of the Slack messages in question being critical of marketing leadership is untrue," the spokesperson said, declining to clarify to Insider the language the employees used.Netflix is known for a unique company culture that it famously outlined publicly in a 127-slide deck in 2009, which stated that it valued "radical transparency" — a value that leads to intense feedback during its annual 360-degree reviews.While the former executives thought they were chatting in a private channel, it was in fact viewable by anyone at the company.