Bozoma Saint John Reveals Reaction to Move From Netflix to ‘Real Housewives’: “What the F?”

In May, Bravo confirmed that Bozoma Saint John, a high-profile C-suite executive with buzzy tenures at Netlix, Endeavor and Uber, would be joining the cast of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills for its 14th season.

Brooklyn Decker, Maximo Salas Board Amazon's Music Drama 'The Runarounds'

The news inspired a cycle of industry gossip, as it’s rare for someone with a resumé like Saint John — the native of Ghana served the streamer as chief marketing officer from 2020-22 — to pivot from talking strategy in elite board rooms to being in front of cameras on reality TV where brawls, catfights and quippy catch phrases are the norm. But then again, Saint John is used to people talking about the moves she makes.

As she was making another — from the red carpet to a seat inside Intuit Dome at the venue’s opening night celebration and concert featuring Bruno Mars — The Hollywood Reporter caught up with Saint John to discuss why she said yes to Housewives , whether there’s a path back to the board room one day and how she’s feeling now about life after Netflix.

What responses have you fielded from executive friends and C-suite peers after news broke that you had joined the Housewives cast?

You already know the answer to that. Everybody was like, “What the f are you doing?” It’s so funny to me, and I would say, “But y’all act like you behave differently in the boardroom than these women behave on TV.” The point is that we have all these human interactions and communications with moments of connections. There will be moments of conflict and there will be moments of reconciliation. All of those things exist behind closed doors but on a show like this, you just happen to see those moments on TV. For me, I’m looking at it as a way of understanding a new group of people that I haven’t interacted with before. Well, except for a few but that’s only been light interactions because we run in similar circles. I’m looking at it as a way to explore, communicate and getting to know people.

Were you hesitant at all about putting your life on reality television?

OK, I can tell you this because you’ve seen the iterations [of my career]. And I’ve never been afraid of the moves that I’ve made — never. This is probably a bigger conversation but, honestly, I don’t think I’ve ever been championed in any move that I’ve ever made. People have always questioned it. Of course, in hindsight, people will say, “Yes, I knew she should have left Apple to go to Uber.” And, “Yes, I knew she should’ve left Uber to go to Endeavor.” And, “Yes, I knew she should have left Endeavor to go to Netflix.” But in those moments, people frowned upon the moves I was making until I made those moves my own. That is the point of what I’m doing now. This is really my move and this is what works for me right now.

Do you think there is a path back to the boardroom after this?

Yes, yes, yes. Essentially, look, I don’t know what the future holds five years from today. I’ve actually never done that and approached my career in that way. I am not someone who has five to 10 year plans. I’m living in the moment and focused on what is relevant to me right now. Wherever the future is going to take me next, I will be open to it. The truth is none of us know. We’ll see if I go back to the boardroom.

So, you are not thinking, if I do X now, it will get me to Y later?

Jeff Goldblum Plays a Vengeful, Yet Stylish Zeus in 'Kaos' Trailer

It’s a good question and maybe I will answer it in a different way by saying that I am not calculating in that way. What I’m interested in is growth. I always want to learn. I want the new opportunities to teach me something. I’m not going to do anything just because I feel that I’ve already mastered that [job]. Every job I have had has taught me something new, and I’ve been able to build on that foundation with every new role. Even with [ Real Housewives ], I am approaching it with the foundation of all the work I have done before and knowing it has prepared me to enter this space. The relationships I’ve made along the way in pop culture are helping me in this space. I don’t know what the next role is going to be or what I’m going to do next, but I’m hopeful that what I’m doing now is going to expand me and open up those doors too.

The last time I interviewed you, it was on another red carpet at an Emily’s List event right after you exited Netflix in 2022. Now that some time has passed, have you gained any insight or perspective about your time there?

Gosh. That experience for me was so tough. Because I got the job at the start of the pandemic, there was so much heat on the company because everyone was turning to it. There were jokes at the time about people sitting on their couches for so long that they got to the end of Netflix. We ended up making a commercial that poked fun at that. When I decided it was time to leave, it was really only because I wanted to explore focusing on my book. I know people didn’t understand that at the time because people are always looking for conflict, or a bad thing. But the truth is I have so much respect for [Ted Sarandos] and [Reed Hastings], and they really allowed me to even write my book while I was doing my job. Toward the end, I knew that I would have to promote it and I would have to go deep into that process. My book was not easy. It wasn’t like I wrote a book about climbing the corporate ladder. I wrote a book about loss and grief and I had to go back to that place, carrying the weight of it every day while doing promotion and my day job? It was going to be impossible. It was a difficult decision and I felt that it was a risk to resign but it was the right thing to do at the time. I don’t know that I could have done it any other way, honestly.

Your bank account is not my business, so forgive me for asking this question but was it hard to leave behind the Netflix paycheck?

The money’s great but, baby, let me tell you: I’ve been very smart about it. I own stock at every company I’ve ever worked, and I feel good and comfortable with that. This ties into my personal life because when my husband died, my daughter was 4. I looked at her future and mine and thought, holy shit. How do I provide for her and for myself in the long run? If there’s any place I’m conservative, it’s about my money. My outfits aren’t conservative but my spending is. My money is good.

It is an interesting subject to speak to you about because the Real Housewives franchise can seem very much about money, prestige, status, etc., and all of the things that go along with that.

The only thing I’ll say about that is that I am not a DEI executive. I never have been. I’m a Black woman. Every room that I enter, people look at me a certain way or they say that I’m diversifying that space. Can I just be both? In this space, I feel some responsibility in showcasing the fact that there are successful Black women who also exist in these spaces.

I’m speaking to you on the eve of the Democratic National Convention and Kamala Harris’ bid to become the president. Are you going to Chicago? Do you have plans to support the campaign?

I feel so excited. I don’t know if you remember this but I was with Kamala Harris when she went to Ghana for a state visit. I was part of the delegation, so I have long been in the Kamala Harris fan base as a supporter. I’ve had many visits to the White House while she was a part of the current administration. Most recently, I was there, probably in May or close to it. I met with President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden. I believe in the hope, the great hope for this nation. I support the idea that we don’t have to be one dimensional. If there is a woman who is Indian and Black, who attended a Black institution for university, who practiced law in California, can be president of the United States, why wouldn’t I want to support that? It’s amazing. You’ve seen all these calls recently — Black women for Kamala, women executives for Kamala and I just received one for the diaspora for Kamala. I’m going to check all the boxes. I want to support in as many was as I can. I’m very excited.

Lily Collins on 'Emily in Paris' and Becoming More Comfortable in the Gray Area of Season 4