Top communications chief at Netflix has been fired amid racial slur scandal

Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, said he had "let go" of the streaming giants chief communications officer. Photo / Getty

Netflix has fired its chief communications officer after he made "insensitive remarks" in a meeting with colleagues, reportedly using the N-word multiple times.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, in a memo sent out to staff, Netflix CEO Reed Hastings said they were letting go of Jonathan Friedland because "his descriptive use of the N-word on at least two occasions at work showed unacceptably low racial awareness and sensitivity."

Jonathan Friedland, left, poses with Reed Hastings during the celebration of the first anniversary of Netflix in Mexico on August 29, 2012. Friedland has been fired from the company. Photo / Getty

Friedland was the top communications spokesman for the streaming service for six years, joining as vice president global corporate communications after having previously been an executive for Disney.

Sources revealed to The Hollywood Reporter that the firing followed Netflix staff members reporting Friedman for having said the N-word during a meeting of public relations staff about sensitive words. The company had hoped that the initial incident would be just "an awful anomaly", however, he then repeated the word again months later in another meeting when addressing the original incident.

Hastings wrote in the internal memo to staff, "We had hoped this was an awful anomaly never to be repeated.

"Three months later he spoke to a meeting of our Black Employees @Netflix group and did not bring it up, which was understood by many in the meeting to mean he didn't care and didn't accept accountability for his words."

In a statement on Twitter, Friedland confirmed his departure, saying that he felt "awful" for what he had done. "Leaders have to be beyond reproach in the example we set," he said, "and unfortunately I fell short of that standard when I was insensitive in speaking to my team about words that offend in comedy.

"I feel awful about the distress this lapse caused to people at a company I love and where I want everyone to feel included and appreciated. I feel honoured to have built a brilliant and diverse global team and to have been part of this collective adventure in building the world's leading entertainment service."

He also later tweeted out a follow-up, seemingly still not quite understanding the full gravity of his actions. In the since-deleted tweet, Friedland wrote, "Thanks. Rise high, fall fast. All on a couple of words …"

As chief of communications at Netflix, Friedland was responsible for media and content publicity for the service's original series, films and specials in 190 countries around the world.

His replacement is yet to be named.

The scandal follows the continued success of the streaming service, which recorded 125 million subscribers worldwide at the end of the first quarter and expects to add 6.2 million in the second quarter.