Netflix executive fired for secret he revealed during ‘trust exercise’

A Netflix executive has lost his $1.1 million a year job after revealing a secret while on a company retreat.

Kevin Baillie, who was vice president and head of creative at Eyeline Studios, is now suing the entertainment company after his comments seemingly led to his dismissal, while he was also denied around a year's severance pay.

It was back in January 2026, when executives from the company headed to a Northern California property owned by Netflix, that Mr Baillie revealed to his colleagues that he had taken medically prescribed ketamine back in October and November 2022, as he struggled with depression following his mother's death.

He and other colleagues were taking part in a 'vulnerability-trust exercise' at the time, and although he explained the reason why he had been prescribed the ketamine, it came up as an issue in March of this year.

On March 18, 2026 a company investigator brought the incident up 'in a manner suggesting suspicion of recreational drug use' according to the lawsuit.

Baille has worked on some huge franchises in his career (Instagram/fxnerd)

And just a few weeks later, the company executive who also worked on iconic franchises such as Harry Potter and Pirates of the Caribbean, was fired, with the company's attorney confirming that 'the ketamine therapy issue has factored into the termination'.

The papers also state that Baillie's alleged profanity and drinking played a part in his termination, although he claims that his only previous warning regarding the latter of those came in a performance review, where he was told that he should 'drop one or two less f-bombs but don’t stop entirely'.

At the same retreat, Baille showed off a trick where he drank a pint of Guinness while standing on his head, although he claims this was part of a wider drinking culture at the company.

“His colleague immediately asked for a demonstration, rather than withhold the openness that the session had encouraged, he performed the trick,” the papers say.

The exclusive ranch owned by Netflix (Instagram/cecimeseeds)

Baillie alleges that the drinking culture was encouraged by Eyeline Studios CEO Jeff Shapiro as during two separate company outings, 'Shapiro purchased beer at a corner store and brought it into the vehicle for the group to share', the suit says.

As well as this, Shapiro is said to have a personal bar in his office, 'from which he served alcohol (to Baillie) including after a successful meeting with Netflix’s CEO Ted Sarandos', according to the suit.

Baillie is now asking for a jury trial, compensatory damages, lost wages, damages for emotional distress, and punitive damages after losing his illustrious position earlier this year.

LADbible group has contacted Netflix and Eyeline Studios for comment.