Marc Maron laid into Netflix, saying the company will “co-opt anybody” who can stoke the flames of “fascism.”
“Fascism is good for business,” Maron said on a new episode of Pod Save America. “Netflix will just, you know, co-opt anybody that can take that algorithm. I used to do a joke about it—Netflix can become ‘Reichflix’ very quickly.“
Maron said that the “pivotal moment“ came when the streaming service got ”pushback from the trans community” over anti-trans jokes in Dave Chappelle’s specials. “They realized after several days that that community was not going to affect their bottom line at all,” he said of LGBTQ+ Americans. “And they cut ‘em loose. That is how fascism works in business.”
Before Chappelle enraged much of the trans community and some of Netflix’s own employees with his material mocking trans people in 2021, Maron performed two specials for Netflix in 2017 and 2020. His next two specials, 2023’s From Bleak to Dark and 2025’s Panicked, were both released on HBO instead.
Maron didn’t leave the streamer in protest to what he calls its fascist-leaning algorithm, however. He told Collider in 2023 that Netflix “had first look” at any new specials but wasn’t interested in From Bleak to Dark. A rep for Maron did not return a request for comment.
“Then HBO was like, ‘We want it.’ And this couldn’t have been a better thing,” he went on at the time, “because, in some ways, as a stand-up, you don’t really want to be on Netflix, do you? Because it’s such a gamble, and they don’t get behind anything. You’re just there to see what the algorithm dictates.”
Maron still feels the same way, he revealed Sunday, insisting to podcast host Jon Lovett that the Chappelle debacle showed the company’s true values. When Lovett pointed out that Netflix carries troves of LGBTQ+ content in addition to comedy specials that target that community, Maron said one pales in comparison to the other.
“But ultimately, who’s getting the big deals? Which shows stay on the air? You know, what do they keep repeating?” he asked. “That’s them saying, ‘We got this other stuff and we know there’s a few of you, but we’re throwing you a bone. So, shut up.’”
As for the comedians feeding the streaming giant’s MAGA-friendly content, Maron has had scathing words for them many times. He said on his WTF podcast in June, “All these anti-woke comics, I see them around still doing trans jokes. It’s like, you won! The trans people have no right to live the life they want… thousands of people are living in pain and fear and unable to live a free life in America and get the care that they need. Hope those jokes were worth it!”
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