Posted on 07/27/2026 5:22:13 AM PDT by Libloather
A Netflix executive was fired from his $1.1 million a year job after revealing during a “trust exercise” at a work retreat that he had taken medically prescribed ketamine, a lawsuit has claimed.
Kevin Baillie, who was vice president and head of creative at Eyeline Studios, is suing the company after they launched an investigation into his comments that ultimately ended in his firing, the papers say.
Baillie, who’s been on the visual effects team for “Pirates of the Caribbean” and the “Harry Potter” franchises, says he took the drug under medical supervision in October and November of 2022 at a Santa Barbara clinic.
He sought the treatment for clinical depression after the death of his mother, according to the suit.
During what’s called a “Vulnerability-Trust exercise” at a January 2026 retreat at the exclusive Sendero Ranch, a Northern California property owned by Netflix, Baillie shared with his colleagues that he had undergone the treatment, the suit says.
Baillie claims he explained the reason why he had taken the drug but was investigated by Netflix. On March 18, 2026 a company investigator brought the incident up, “in a manner suggesting suspicion of recreational drug use,” the suit reads.
The executive was fired in April with the company’s attorney confirming “the ketamine therapy issue has factored into the termination,” the papers say, and go on to suggest Baille was denied up to a year of severance pay.
Baillie says in the lawsuit the “scope” of the investigation related to alleged profanity and drinking. He had been warned during his performance review that he should “drop one or two less f-bombs but don’t stop entirely.”
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
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So much for “trust” exercises. Btw, ketamine is sometimes used therapeutically, although not every practitioner endorses it.
Also isn’t good ole 0 on the Netflix board? I seem to recall something about him and recreational drug use too.
Rule #1 for “trust exercises” and other New Age gab-sessions at corporate seminars - never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never, never reveal anything truly personal or revealing about yourself. Think up superficial safe confession ahead of time. Something like you are too much of a perfectionist. If you even confess something as innocuous as you have trouble being on time, it will be remembered and you will be monitored. And God forbid if you lose all sense and admit that you are an gambling-addict, crack addict who is into bondage and cross-dressing . . . . .
Sounds like the executive had more going on than the admitted ketamine use.
He should have read the Dilbert books from Scott Adams.
“ Now he knows why the korporate bosses held the “retreat” and the “trust” exercises.”
Yep. Same reason for the open bar at the Christma…. I mean, “holiday” party.
My doctor had me try Ketamine infusions for pain. It didn’t help but I was willing to try just about anything. The drug is administered by a trained anesthesiologist so it wasn’t like I was taking a street drug to get high.
I guess the company failed their “trust” exercise.
He should have followed Karen Resorcé@hr_unhinged https://x.com/hr_unhinged to get the lowdown on underhanded HR tactics. He would not have made THAT mistake.
In job interviews, many times the question was “What is your worst trait/problem/etc.” I would answer that “I am too nice a guy!”. (I stole that from Larry McDonald’s widow, she used it in a televised debate.)
Who that works there trusts Netflix now?
And who’s surprised???
I’m so old that I still think of ‘recreation’ as getting out for a hike, a swim in the lake, or a softball game...
I suspect it was more than the ketamine use that got him canned.
“Certified ass hole gets fired for alleged ketamine use”
Considering the profane crap that Netflix produces for their network I am surprised that F-bombs would be an issue regardless of the frequency.
Many, many years ago, my company had an anonymous survey in which workers were asked to give their opinions about management practices.
A week later, my manager sat his small team down and demanded to know more details about why we didn’t think he was effective.
I was in the clear: I lied my ass off in the survey and said that he was great at everything (he wasn’t). Who the hell would trust their employer????
Another one of 0bama's Pajama Boys?
WAS NEVER ASKED SUCH A QUESTION IN A JOB INTERVIEW-—OR ANYWHERE ELSE, IIRC.
I WOULD HAVE CONSIDERED REFUSING TO ANSWER.
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