If Netflix ever finds itself in hot water, at least it will now have someone experienced in crisis situations working to shape its message and clean up its image.
Netflix said Monday it has hired Rachel Whetstone as its new chief communications officer, and that she will be responsible for running the streaming TV giant's global communications efforts.
Communications directors are normally responsible for daily activities like handling media requests for information and interviews. But, there are times when they have to grab a metaphorical firehouse and put out blazes that can threaten to burn everything down (again, metaphorically speaking). And Whetstone is no stranger to such situations.
Whetstone joins Netflix after a year at Facebook, where she was senior vice president of communications. And it was an active year, to say the least, as Facebook swung from one crisis to another, most notably when data firm Cambridge Analytica gained access to the personal information of about 87 million Facebook users. Prior to her year at Facebook, Whetstone ran corporate communications for Uber during a period in which she dealt with an ongoing slate of controversies including the improper behavior of then-Chief Executive Travis Kalanick.
And before her two-year stint at Uber, Whetstone spent a decade at Google as its senior vice president of communications and public policy.
While Netflix isn't known for dealing with as many public fracases as Whetstone's prior employers, she is coming to the company amid a period of mild embarrassment for it.
In June, Whetstone's predecessor, Jonathan Friedland, was fired after, as CEO Reed Hastings put it, "His descriptive use of the N-word on at least two occasions at work showed unacceptably low racial awareness and sensitivity."
