Global streaming giant Netflix has taken a big hit after Tesla CEO Elon Musk started a clarion call to boycott the OTT platform.
This has led to Netflix grappling with potential challenges that could affect its stock performance.
This happened amid outrage over the animated series ‘Dead End: Paranormal Park’, which featured a teenage transgender character.
When the controversy gained momentum, #CancelNetflix went viral, echoing cultural barriers that the company faced earlier.
As per Wion, the fallout was swift on Wall Street as Netflix shares slumped 4.3 per cent in just one and a half days.
And the company’s market capitalisation dropped to 15 billion dollars. Over the week, the stock loss was nearly 5 per cent, its steepest decline since April.
This started when Elon Musk revealed on X that he had cancelled his Netflix subscription and urged others to do the same, citing concerns about protecting children’s well-being.
The campaign quickly gained traction online, with many users posting their own cancellation confirmations, causing Netflix shares to drop by 2 per cent.
Though the show ‘Dead End: Paranormal Park’ was cancelled in 2023 after two seasons, conservative accounts like Libs of TikTok resurfaced clips last week, framing it as part of a ‘transgender woke agenda.’ Musk amplified these posts, stating that such content was ‘not ok.’
The controversy escalated when focus turned to Hamish Steele, the creator of the show, who is openly queer.
In September, Steele posted on Bluesky about conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who had been killed in a shooting, referring to him as a Nazi.
Right-wing commentators accused Steele of mocking Kirk’s death, and Elon Musk amplified these claims by reposting messages alleging that Netflix employed someone who ‘celebrated” Kirk’s murder.
Musk’s stance against a platform or person is not surprising. He has often criticised anything that does not align with his ideology, and he has frequently spoken about his opposition to what he calls the “woke mind virus,” particularly on issues of gender identity.
On multiple occasions, he has referenced his personal experience with his daughter’s transition, claiming that she was influenced by what he sees as ideological indoctrination.
So far, Netflix has not released any official statement on either Musk’s subscription cancellation or the wider backlash against Steele.
This is not the first time that Netflix has found itself in the middle of a controversy. In 2020, the streamer drew bipartisan criticism over the French coming-of-age film ‘Cuties’, which critics claimed sexualised young girls.
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