Netflix Fires Chief Content Officer Amid Mass Layoffs, Woke Platform’s Movie Head Could Be Next

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Netflix Chief Content Officer Bela Bajaria is out after 10 years, and the company is replacing her as it cuts about 1,000 jobs.

Former Disney and Fox executive Peter Rice will take the role, Variety reported Thursday. As chief content officer, Rice will lead Netflix’s global content organization, covering scripted and unscripted series, films, live events, and more.

DiscussingFilm said Bajaria was fired and that Netflix’s film chief Dan Lin is also expected to leave, subject to a final decision by Rice.


Bajaria’s departure comes in the same week Netflix laid off roughly 1,000 employees, or 6 percent of its workforce, the largest cut the streamer has made since 2022.

The Western Journal reported Wednesday that the reductions hit tech, legal, product, and human resources, according to a memo from co-CEOs Greg Peters and Ted Sarandos.

Netflix film vice president Doug Belgrad and film director Sheroum Kim were also let go in the restructuring, Variety said.


Sarandos expressed his gratitude to Bajaria in a statement.

“I want to thank Bela for a decade of dedication, innovation, creativity and leadership,” he said. “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.”

In a staff memo, he called it “a big change in a year that has already had its share,” and said he saw an opportunity to take the slate “to the next level,” especially in the and Canada.

Bajaria joined Netflix in 2016 after leaving NBCUniversal, where she had been president of Universal Television.

She first helped to launch Netflix’s unscripted division, and later became head of global TV in 2020 and chief content officer in January 2023.

Under her watch, the company had series including “Bridgerton,” “Squid Game,” “Stranger Things,” and “Wednesday,” and films such as “KPop Demon Hunters.”

She also pushed into live sports and events, including deals with the NFL and WWE.

Netflix won 16 Primetime Emmys this year, its lowest haul since 2016, down from 30 in 2025 and well below the 44 it took in 2021.

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Rice was ousted from Disney in 2022 by then-CEO Bob Chapek after serving as chairman of Walt Disney Television and chairman of general entertainment.

He had overseen ABC, FX, Hulu, National Geographic, and more.

Since then, he has produced films including “Saturday Night” and “28 Years Later.” Sarandos called him “one of the most effective at-scale operators in the entertainment industry.”

This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.

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The Western Journal

You can email Brooklynn Robinson, The Western Journal here, and read more of Brooklynn Robinson, The Western Journal's articles here.

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