‘A TERRIBLE THING THAT TED DID’

How a Corporate Backstab Gave Us Netflix’s ‘Insatiable’

Reportedly called “Insatiable-gate” within the embattled streamer’s offices, one source dubbed the show’s sneaky green-light “the beginning of the Walmart-ization” of Netflix.

Few Netflix series have inspired as much impassioned critique as Insatiable—and apparently, there was even more controversy behind this series behind the scenes. In a report following the company’s no-good, very bad week, The Hollywood Reporter describes the show as something of a flashpoint in an internal war that culminated in longtime chief content officer Cindy Holland’s shocking departure in 2020. Sources accused CEO Ted Sarandos of pitting Holland and fellow exec Bela Bajaria against one another. Bajaria’s decision to green-light Insatiable, THR reports, came after Holland had already rejected it—a choice that one source described as the beginning of Netflix’s “Walmart-ization.” “It’s called Insatiable-gate within the halls of Netflix,” a source told THR. “... It caused absolute demoralization and chaos. Everybody thought it was a terrible thing Ted did, allowing one team to greenlight something that another team had passed on.” A Netflix insider pointed out that Bajaria also picked up You—another series Holland had rejected during its pitch phase that would become one of the streamer’s biggest hits.