Ryan Baker Quoted in Business Insider on How Netflix co-CEO Comments on Dave Chappelle May Impact 13 Reasons Why Lawsuit

In a Business Insider article on October 26, 2021, Co-Managing Partner Ryan Baker said, “We have Netflix admitting that this content can be harmful. The CEO has said so in three different ways … he says quite clearly it can be very positive or very negative.”

After comedian Dave Chappelle’s Netflix special The Closer was criticized as transphobic, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos told Deadline, “There are some things on Netflix that may be harmful to you, your colleagues, and your friends, but we are trying to entertain the world and make business decisions that are protective of creative freedom.”

Baker said Sarandos’ comments could lead to him being deposed in the 13 Reasons Why class action lawsuit filed this year that alleges Netflix failed to warn viewers the show’s storyline is about teen suicide and that the Netflix algorithm recommended the series to “vulnerable” audiences. The lead plaintiff alleges the streaming giant contributed to a teenager’s tragic suicide.

“With regard to this algorithm claim that the plaintiffs have here, what Ted is saying (about The Closer) is a nice piece of their argument,” Baker said. “It is often hard to get the CEO to sit for a deposition. If you’re a plaintiff, you’ve now got Sarandos saying all this stuff, making a record of grappling with these issues. You just got a whole bunch more reasons why he should have to sit for a deposition and answer these questions.”