Netflix presented itself as an advertising powerhouse with 250 million monthly active viewers, expanding its ads tier to 15 new markets and showcasing a star-studded lineup of programming announcements including Bridgerton Season 5, the Westminster Dog Show, and five NFL games.
Insiders say Pete Davidson's unscripted rant wasn't fully cleared with Netflix's exec team beforehand—he went rogue mid-pitch, cracking jokes about his own podcast bombing and calling out the awkwardness of reading corporate-approved lines. Meanwhile, Will Forte's musical number reportedly made several Netflix executives visibly uncomfortable as he butchered 'Golden' from KPop Demon Hunters in front of hundreds of advertisers.
Netflix president of advertising Amy Reinhard revealed over 60% of new sign-ups are choosing the ads plan, and 44% of Netflix ad viewers never see commercials on broadcast TV or other streamers. The event took place at Sunset Pier 94 Studios in New York City on May 13, 2026.
Netflix tried to sell advertisers on its growing ad business while letting celebrities run roughshod over the teleprompter—whoever approved Pete Davidson's 'I know you haven't' joke about his own podcast clearly has a tolerance for chaos. Either way, the streaming giant got its message across: they're not just competing with traditional TV anymore—they're mocking it.
Netflix pulled out all the stops at its annual upfront presentation in New York City on Tuesday, transforming Sunset Pier 94 Studios into a three-hour variety show complete with romcom pairings, surprise musical numbers, and enough awkward celebrity moments to fuel gossip columns for weeks. The streaming giant's theme? 'Get Closer'—and judging by how some of these presentations unfolded, that motto apparently applied to professional boundaries too.
The evening opened with Jennifer Lopez and Brett Goldstein sharing a clip from their upcoming romcom Office Romance, marking what Goldstein called a dream realized. 'Netflix brought me closer to my dream of making an old school rom-com with Jennifer Lopez, the queen of romantic comedies,' Goldstein said, still sounding genuinely shocked the project happened. Lopez reciprocated the enthusiasm: 'It was my pleasure, and it felt great to come back to a rom-com.
It's been too long, and this one might be my favorite one I've ever done.' The chemistry between them played well on screen—but whether that translates to actual streaming numbers remains to be seen when Office Romance drops. Then Pete Davidson took the stage and immediately made things interesting by acknowledging the elephant in the room: nobody wanted to be there. 'How's everybody doing?
Are you guys fucking miserable?' he asked the crowd of advertisers at Sunset Pier 94 Studios. But the real chaos came when he started reading from the teleprompter—then abandoning it entirely. When a pre-written joke about playing an octopus in Remarkably Bright Creatures landed with a whimper, Davidson didn't miss a beat: 'I actually thought that was gonna do better.
I remember they said that to me, "do you want to change that joke?" And I was like, "No, that's gonna fuck super hard at this weird fucking building we are in." The room erupted. He then addressed his new podcast—The Pete Davidson Show—with characteristic self-deprecation: 'I know you haven't.' Whether Netflix's ad sales team found that as hilarious as the audience did remains unclear, but given they're reportedly paying him to be there, we're guessing they swallowed their pride.
If Davidson provided controlled chaos, Will Forte delivered pure unfiltered disaster. The comedian joined Tina Fey to promote Season 2 of The Four Seasons and somehow ended up performing an off-key rendition of 'Golden' from Netflix's KPop Demon Hunters while sitting on a Netflix executive in the audience. Sources inside Sunset Pier 94 Studios say the moment was equal parts cringeworthy and hypnotic—Forte clearly couldn't hit the notes, but he committed so fully that you couldn't look away.
The fact that this clip is now being used to promote both The Four Seasons AND KPop Demon Hunters simultaneously suggests Netflix's marketing department operates on pure chaos energy. Behind all the celebrity tomfoolery, Amy Reinhard delivered some genuinely significant news for advertisers: Netflix now claims more than 250 million monthly active viewers worldwide and isn't 'double counting' anyone. More striking—over 60% of new sign-ups are choosing the ads plan, suggesting consumers aren't as allergic to commercials as Netflix once assumed.
The streamer also announced it's expanding its ad-supported tier to 15 additional markets including Austria, Belgium, Colombia, Denmark, Indonesia, Ireland, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Switzerland and Thailand. Combined with announcements about streaming five NFL games, the Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show moving exclusively to Netflix starting next year, and a massive slate of returning hits like Bridgerton Season 5 arriving in 2027—Netflix made clear it's no longer just competing with Hollywood studios, it's coming for traditional broadcast's advertiser dollars too. Whether advertisers were paying attention or too distracted by Pete Davidson roasting his own podcast remains the real question.
