Elon Musk on Wednesday made repeated calls on X, urging people to cancel their Netflix subscriptions. His posts came after he cancelled his own subscription to the streaming platform while taking a dig at it.
In one post, the Tesla CEO wrote, “Cancel Netflix,” while another post read, “Cancel Netflix for the health of your kids.”
So, what is the controversy about?
Simply put, the entire row erupted after Musk reshared a post from a user who said that they cancelled their Netflix subscription since the company employed “someone who celebrated the murder of Charlie Kirk.”
Why Musk wants people to cancel Netflix
The Tesla CEO’s anger against Netflix began after Hamish Steele, the creator of the animated Netflix series ‘Dead End: Paranormal Park’, made comments about conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was recently shot dead.
Last month, Steele shared an expletive-laced post on Bluesky targeting Charlie Kirk. In the post, the London-based animation director referred to Kirk as a “nazi.” Several netizens accused Steele of mocking Kirk’s death while also using offensive language.
Musk also reacted to a social media post criticising Netflix for employing Steele. Former Department of Energy nuclear scientist Matt Van Swol shared that he had cancelled his Netflix subscription. He wrote, “If you employ someone who celebrated the murder of Charlie Kirk and makes content that pushes pro-trans content on my kids… you will NEVER get a dime of my money.”
Responding to the post, Musk wrote, “Same.”
Musk wants to ‘cancel Netflix’ over ‘discrimination against White people’
A social media post claimed that in the company’s inclusion and diversity report, “they celebrate that the percentage of racially underrepresented directors and lead characters has been growing significantly over the past few years.” HT.com has not independently verified the authenticity of this information.
“Netflix appears to openly boast about discriminating against White people… Why doesn’t Netflix hire based on qualifications instead of skin colour??” the post read.
Directly replying to this post, Musk wrote, “Cancel Netflix.”
The backlash against Hamish Steele
Outrage against Steele grew after a clip from his Netflix show, ‘Dead End: Paranormal Park’, began surfacing on Musk-owned X.
Many claimed that the show pushes a “woke” or “transgender” agenda on children. Besides cancelling his Netflix subscription in protest, Musk also called Steele a “groomer.”
Notably, the billionaire has often made remarks against what he calls the “woke mind virus.”
Notably, Charlie Kirk, a right-wing political activist, was shot and killed during a public interaction on September 10. His funeral drew a crowd of thousands, including Elon Musk and US President Donald Trump.
