Barely a week goes by that we don't hear about someone trying to boycott Netflix. Whether it's complaints over new features, the introduction of AI, or simply a price hike, it seems that someone is already annoyed at Netflix for some reason.
Now, Elon Musk has put the streaming giant in his crosshairs, posting on X and calling for his 226 million followers to cancel their Netflix subscription. Just days after the world's richest man spoke out after being named in the latest release of the Epstein Files, he took to social media and implored people to boycott Netflix.
It all comes in the aftermath of Charlie Kirk's fatal shooting at Utah Valley University, with the MAGA community turning on the streaming service. We've already seen people lose their jobs for sharing their views on the political commentator's death, while Jimmy Kimmel was briefly cancelled, and a judge ruled on calls for a university professor to be fired for referring to Kirk as a 'nazi'.
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There's a similar story when it comes to Hamish Steele – the creator of Dead End Paranormal Park. An account seeming to belong to Steele replied to UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer's thoughts on the situation. When Starmer sympathized with Kirk's family, Steele appeared to write: "Why the f**k are you even commenting on this, d**khead. A random nazi gets shot, and it’s a public statement. You’re such a f**king evil sh*t.”
As reported by The Daily Beast, Musk reshared a clip from the Libs of TikTok account, featuring a moment from Dead End Paranormal Park where the lead character admits they're transgender. As well as 17-year-old Barney, the video includes Norma, a 17-year-old bisexual and autistic girl.
Seemingly the perfect storm of people calling Netflix 'woke' and raging about Steele's Kirk comments, Musk amplified Libs of TikTok's message and captioned it saying, "This is not ok."
After someone else claimed to have cancelled their subscription and listed the reason as "Hamish Steele celebrating Charlie Kirk’s murder," the tech billionaire added, "Same." Musk has continued to share subsequent posts that call for others to cancel their Netflix subscription, although it should be noted that Dead End Paranormal Park ran for two seasons before being cancelled in 2023.
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Steele has since posted on BlueSky, stating it was probably going to be a 'very odd day', also adding: "My Instagram comments are now flooded with replies saying I AM CHARLIE KIRK and that I celebrated his death (which I never did)."
While many continued to mock Steele over his him/they/whatever pronouns, he concluded: "I have mostly been very ok today and found it all quite funny, while really appreciating everyone who has reached out, but the extremely nasty weird homophonic and antisemitic emails have started rolling in and it is getting a little scary so I apologise if I take longer to respond to stuff."
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Back in 2020, Steele thanked the streamer for its support of Dead End Paranormal Park, saying there was "absolutely no pushback from Netflix" about the show's LGBTQ+ representation, as well as maintaining, "I think it was actually a key reason they wanted it."
These latest threats of a boycott come shortly after outrage that Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings made a personal donation of $2 million to California's Gavin Newsom’s redistricting efforts.
Whether Netflix will actually be affected by these boycotts remains to be seen, but with 226 million followers, Mr. Musk definitely has the platform to share his message.