Susan Rice appointed to Netflix board of directors
Netflix CEO says the ex-Obama adviser has tackled difficult, complex global issues for decades and the company will benefit from her experience.
Former national security adviser and U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice now has a new role on Netflix's board of directors, appearing to follow her former boss who is in reported "advanced negotiations" to create a series of shows with the streaming giant.
The company made the announcement on Wednesday, with Netflix co-founder and CEO Reed Hastings praising her prior work on intelligence issues for former President Barack Obama.
In fact, Rice's former boss may be joining her at Netflix, as the New York Times first reported earlier this month the 56-year-old was in talks for a deal that would pay him and his wife, former first lady Michelle Obama, for Netflix-only “exclusive content” that would be available to subscribers of the digital streaming service.
Netflix has about 118 million subscribers globally. It was not immediately clear how many shows or episodes would be ordered or how much the Obamas would be paid.
The streaming service recently tried a talk show featuring anti-Trump comedian Chelsea Handler called "Chelsea" that lasted two seasons before getting canceled.
Former Obama National Security Adviser Susan Rice is joining the Netflix Board of Directors. (REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein)
“We are delighted to welcome Ambassador Rice to the Netflix board,” Hastings said in a statement. “For decades, she has tackled difficult, complex global issues with intelligence, integrity and insight and we look forward to benefiting from her experience and wisdom.”
Rice, 53, said she was "thrilled" to be joining the board.
"I am thrilled to be joining the board of directors of Netflix, a cutting-edge company whose leadership, high-quality productions, and unique culture I deeply admire,” she said in a statement.
Silicon Valley has come under fire from its few conservatives who say they've been shunned, as Fox Business reported. “Silicon Valley is a one-party state,” Peter Thiel, the billionaire investor, Facebook board member and ally of President Trump, said earlier this year at Stanford University, his alma mater. “The other side doesn’t care for you, and your side doesn’t care for you because they don’t need to.”
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The New York Times reported last August that Thiel was informed he would receive a negative review of his board performance by Hastings, a fellow Facebook board member.
While the head of Netflix praised Rice for her four years as Obama's national security adviser and role at the United Nations, her tenure in the positions did not come without its share of controversy.
Last month, two senators disclosed that Rice sent an “unusual email” to herself the day Trump was sworn in to office, documenting then-President Obama's guidance at a high-level meeting about how law enforcement should investigate Russian interference in the 2016 presidential race.
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Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham told Fox News at the time it was "odd and disturbing." While an attorney for Rice said there was nothing unusual about the note, White House spokesman Raj Shah told “Fox & Friends” the email “raises a lot of questions.”
She also was slammed by Trump last year for efforts to "unmask" his associates’ identities in intelligence reports in 2016.
Barack Obama in talks with Netflix to produce shows
Former President Barack Obama is reportedly in 'advanced negotiations' with Netflix to create a series of new shows for the streaming giant.
Tom Fitton, the president of the watchdog group Judicial Watch, said on Twitter Wednesday, ".@Netflix doubles down in support of Obama corruption -- compromised Susan Rice, who lied repeatedly on both Benghazi and the unmasking issue joins its Board of Directors."
In 2012, Rice, who was then serving as the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, appeared on five different Sunday talk shows to suggest that the Benghazi terror attacks were the result of spontaneous protests over what she called a “hateful” Internet video.
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Emails uncovered after the fact revealed that administration officials knew the Benghazi attacks were the result of terrorism, not an internet video, and indicated that even folks within the State Department were stunned by Rice's appearances. One State Department employee suggested Rice had gone "off the reservation."
It was less than a year later, in June 2013, that Rice was tapped by President Obama to serve as national security adviser.
Fox News' Alex Pappas, Brooke Singman, Alex Diaz, and Kathleen Joyce contributed to this report.
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