Here’s a what-if for you: What if Netflix had the chance to work with Gascón again? Well, the streamer would take it, Sarandos says. “You have to have some grace when people make mistakes, and we have grace,” he adds.
Sarandos is no stranger to defending controversial artists—he went to bat for Dave Chappelle when the comedian entered his transphobic era, even when Netflix employees were walking out in protest. But he did apologize for saying that “content doesn’t translate to real-world harm,” because “it was clumsy and it was wrong,” as he explains now to Variety. “Listen, you don’t often get your principles tested. Like freedom of expression and having a safe place for comedians—sometimes principles conflict with each other,” he says. “We all cry at the same things, but what we laugh at is completely different. Censoring a comedian didn’t feel right. Comedy is an important art form, and it needs a pretty unrestricted place to play.”
Apparently Netflix is that unrestricted place, even if it doesn’t have a Best Picture trophy. Ted Sarandos at least has the grace not to grumble that the Academy has it “out for Netflix” because, as he acknowledges, “we’ve been the most-nominated studio for the past three years.” He says, “There’s something about [the Academy]—you nominate the movies that you respect and admire, and you vote for best picture for the movie that you love. We have to make a movie that people love.” Perhaps that movie will be Greta Gerwig’s upcoming Chronicles Of Narnia picture, for which Netflix made an unprecedented Imax deal. “The two-week run for Narnia will check all the boxes for awards qualifications and create a bit of an event,” Sarandos teases. “We’re happy to do it.”
