05 Jun 2020 Netflix Blasted for Supporting Black Lives Matter While American Cities Burn
Media Giant Called “Two-Faced” for Threatening Boycotts Over American Pro-Life Legislation While Silently Operating in Regions like Egypt that Ban Abortion
Washington, D.C. – Netflix was slammed at its annual shareholder meeting yesterday for supporting Black Lives Matter even as many nationwide protests – ostensibly over the killing of George Floyd – have devolved into rioting, looting, arson and violence. Netflix was also taken to task for its hypocritical opposition to American pro-life legislation.
These statements were made in support of a Free Enterprise Project (FEP) shareholder proposal that sought to protect Netflix employees from potential viewpoint discrimination. Considering the liberal lean of the company’s board of directors and its public-facing actions, FEP expressed concern that conservative employees at Netflix – as with many other Silicon Valley companies – almost certainly face a hostile work environment.
Justin Danhof, Esq.
“Netflix clearly has no idea about the origins or intentions of Black Lives Matter,” said National Center General Counsel and FEP Director Justin Danhof, Esq., who spoke at yesterday’s meeting. “If they do know the full story of Black Lives Matter, and still support the Communist-inspired agitators, that’s even more abhorrent. Does Netflix CEO Reed Hastings remember when Black Lives Matter closed highways in Minnesota chanting vile phrases aimed at the police including ‘pigs in a blanket, fry ‘em like bacon’? I sure do.”
At the meeting, Danhof noted:
[E]ven as buildings are looted, vehicles are torched, historic landmarks are defaced, and places of worship are desecrated, Netflix has expressed support for Black Lives Matter. All sane people, including us at the National Center, condemn the killing of George Floyd and support black communities, but that’s not what the Black Lives Matter movement stands for. According to the Capital Research Center, Black Lives Matter was founded by avowed Communists with the result being that many of their actions enflame, not heal, racial tensions. It’s no coincidence that Antifa anarchists are among the rioters burning down our cities today.
He then went onto question why Netflix opposes pro-life legislation, especially in light of the racial disparities that exist in the abortion industrial complex. He said:
Netflix’s supposed support of black lives certainly doesn’t extend to black babies. In 2019, in response to pro-life legislation in Georgia, Netflix suggested it would reconsider its investments in the state. As everyone knows, black babies are killed by abortion at a far higher rate than any other ethnic group in America. Netflix’s posturing against pro-life measures caused backlash from Americans that support life. Does anyone at Netflix support life? Are they allowed to do so by management?
Furthermore, the company’s virtue signaling to support anti-life causes is laughable. At the same time Netflix was opposing a pro-life bill here in America, you were investing $8 billion in Egypt. You do know abortion is 100 percent illegal in Egypt, right? Mr. Hastings, where are your calls to boycott Egypt?
Speaking of Mr. Hastings, if he can defend the hypocrisy of threatening Georgia with a boycott while staying silent on Egypt regarding life issues, why did he duck my question on that topic during last year’s shareholder meeting? Defend yourself.
Hastings had zero response.
Danhof’s entire annotated statement, as prepared for delivery, is available here. His presentation can be heard here.
“Hastings has no defense for his two-faced duplicity. His company supports the extermination of innocents in the United States but heavily invests in production in Egypt and yet says nothing about that country’s ban on abortion. I wonder what many Egyptian politicians and business leaders think about Netflix’s opinion on life,” said Danhof. “Perhaps the media should ask some of them.”
FEP’s shareholder resolution, and the company’s response to it, are available on pages 92-94 of Netflix’s proxy statement.
Scott Shepard
Also of note from yesterday’s meeting was Hastings’s refusal to take a question from FEP program coordinator Scott Shepard regarding Susan Rice’s role on the Netflix board of directors.
Susan Rice, a member of the Netflix Board of Directors, seems to have little experience in the production or distribution of audio-visual productions. Perhaps she was given a seat on the board of directors in order to secure the Obamas for Netflix, but that goal has been accomplished. Now it appears she is becoming increasingly embroiled, along with other members of the Obama Administration, in a Watergate-style scandal of massive election and post-election corruption. Given this, and Rice’s already deeply polarizing place in American life, has not the time come to cut ties with her?
“For the second year in a row, Hastings refused to address FEP’s question,” added Danhof. “If he is so proud of his liberal activism and left-wing virtue signaling, why can’t he defend himself? And for the record, Netflix investors voted last year to reject Rice for the board, but the company ignored the will of the voters.”
Yesterday’s Netflix meeting marked the 27th time FEP has participated in a shareholder meeting in 2020. Conservative and Christian investors wanting to know better how to vote their values through their proxies should download FEP’s Investor Value Voter Guide.
Launched in 2007, the National Center’s Free Enterprise Project focuses on shareholder activism and the confluence of big government and big business. Over the past four years alone, FEP representatives have participated in over 100 shareholder meetings – advancing free-market ideals about health care, energy, taxes, subsidies, regulations, religious freedom, food policies, media bias, gun rights, workers’ rights and other important public policy issues. As the leading voice for conservative-minded investors, it annually files more than 90 percent of all right-of-center shareholder resolutions. Dozens of liberal organizations, however, annually file more than 95 percent of all policy-oriented shareholder resolutions and continue to exert undue influence over corporate America.
FEP activity has been covered by media outlets including the New York Times, Washington Post, USA Today, Variety, the Associated Press, Bloomberg, Drudge Report, Business Insider, National Public Radio and SiriusXM. FEP’s work was prominently featured in Wall Street Journal writer Kimberley Strassel’s 2016 book The Intimidation Game: How the Left is Silencing Free Speech (Hachette Book Group).
The National Center for Public Policy Research, founded in 1982, is a non-partisan, free-market, independent conservative think-tank. Ninety-four percent of its support comes from individuals, less than four percent from foundations and less than two percent from corporations. It receives over 350,000 individual contributions a year from over 60,000 active recent contributors. Sign up for email updates here. Follow us on Twitter at @FreeEntProject and @NationalCenter for general announcements. To be alerted to upcoming media appearances by National Center staff, follow our media appearances Twitter account at @NCPPRMedia.