Flea Will Make Fans Cry in Red Hot Chili Peppers Netflix Documentary, Remembering the Late Hillel Slovak: “He Saw Me”

Published March 20, 2026, 2:00 p.m. ET

If Flea wasn’t already your favorite Pepper, after you watch the new Red Hot Chili Peppers Netflix documentary, The Rise of the Red Hot Chili Peppers: Our Brother Hillel—which began streaming today—he definitely will be. Especially after you watch him break down in tears as he remembers the day that original RHCP guitarist, Hillel Slovak, invited Flea to join his band.

“I couldn’t even believe it,” Flea, who’s government name is Michael Peter Balzar, said in a talking head interview for the film. “I was just like, ‘Wow, you want me?’ No one wanted me. I was a weirdo. I wasn’t cool.”

It’s here where Flea’s voice catches, as he remembers this moment that changed his life, thanks to Slovak, who died of a drug overdose in 1988.

“And I don’t think that the other guys even wanted me,” Flea admits, choking back tears. “But he… he believed him me. He saw me. And in that moment—and obviously, still—it really touched my heart.”

Photo: Courtesy of Netflix

Directed by Ben Feldman, and produced by Hillel Slovak’s brother, James Slovak, this Netflix documentary is a good primer for RHCP fans who didn’t hop on board until the ’90s, when the release of their fifth album, Blood Sugar Sex Magik shot them to true rock-stardom. The film walks viewers through Kiedis and bass player Flea’s childhood friendship with Slovak, whom they both admired and looked up to. While Slovak was the cool high school kid with a band, neither Flea nor Kiedis were musicians.

That all changed when Slovak’s high school band, Anthym, needed a new bass player, and he reached out to Flea. Though he had no experience, Flea said he ran out and purchased a bass right away, and two weeks later he was on stage playing in front of a crowd.

“It changed my life forever,” Flea told the camera. “In real time, I could feel worlds opening. It was incredible. And Hillel gave me that gift.”