Netflix shares dip as American users cancel subscriptions amid transgender movie row

Netflix, the streaming giant, suffered a significant blow within a few hours of a mass wave of American users who chose to cancel their subscriptions, following a social media tirade by CEO Elon Musk. The company has since seen its share price drop massively following the boycott, as it now trades around $1,167 per share, a massive 31 per cent dip.

The boycott began on X (formerly Twitter) when Musk publicly supported the trending movement of American Netflix users. The X owner explicitly tweeted, “Cancel Netflix for the health of your kids”, while confirming that he too had cancelled his account.

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This was due to the controversy surrounding the animated series Dead End: Paranormal Park and its creator, Hamish Steele, whose past remarks mocked the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk. As it turned out, Steele’s show also included transgender themes.

However, this movie boycott does not mean Netflix is about to fail, but it does mean the company is at a critical moment where a massive cultural divide is forcing it to question its content choices and its relationship with a powerful group of American users.

The backstory: Why people are angry at Netflix

The social media boycott exploded on X, where the hashtag #CancelNetflix quickly became a top trend. People shared proof of their cancellations, agreeing with Musk that the company was pushing a “woke agenda” in its children’s programming. 

They repeatedly shared clips from Dead End: Paranormal Park, which features a main character who is openly transgender, arguing that the content was not suitable for kids.

This kind of anger over LGBTQ+ themes is nothing new for Netflix, which has always shown diverse characters in its movies and shows. But this time, the focus on a show for young audiences made the backlash much bigger in America.

Critics argued that the company was prioritising social messages like the promotion of transgenderism over simple, family-friendly entertainment, leading many conservative users to declare that they would no longer support what they called a “woke” streaming service.

Musk’s longstanding battle against the “woke mind virus”

The current boycott over Dead End: Paranormal Park and its promotion of transgenderism is not an isolated incident but rather the latest escalation in a long-running public feud between Elon Musk and the streaming giant. 

Musk has repeatedly used his massive social media reach to criticise what he terms the “woke mind virus,” which he claims is making entertainment, and specifically Netflix’s content, “unwatchable.”

His first major public critique came in April 2022, when Netflix reported a significant loss of subscribers for the first time in over a decade. Musk seized the moment, tweeting that the “woke mind virus” was a key factor in the company’s struggles. 

This term, frequently used by right-wing commentators to dismiss progressive social themes, has been a central pillar of Musk’s opposition to what he views as ideological programming. 

He has often linked this “virus” to the growing visibility of themes like gender identity in media, a stance that has been attributed in part to his personal experiences with his daughter’s transition.

The controversy over the animated series is, therefore, seen by many as the “final straw” in a company-wide trend, confirming Musk’s long-held view that Netflix prioritises social messaging, such as the promotion of transgenderism in America, over pure entertainment value, making it a recurring target of his cultural and political commentary.

Today’s reactions: Who is right?

Musk’s call to cancel subscriptions led to a very clear split in public opinion. On one side, conservative voices and influencers immediately supported Musk’s boycott. They said the cancellations were a necessary action for parents to protect their families. They pointed to the drop in Netflix’s stock price as proof that people agreed with their view and were punishing the company for being too “woke.” 

However, the creators and supporters of the show quickly pushed back. They called the whole boycott an act of transphobia, meaning prejudice against transgender people, that was using children’s safety as an excuse to stop showing LGBTQ+ stories. 

The show’s creator, Hamish Steele, strongly denied the claims, calling the accusations “lies” and noting he had started getting hateful and homophobic emails. Critics of Musk argued that trying to ban a show about a trans teenager was a direct attack on a group of people already treated unfairly, turning a streaming dispute into a huge fight over social tolerance in America.

What the boycott means for Netflix and its viewers

The Elon Musk-led boycott over a show with a transgender character confirms that the fight over “woke” culture is now a major business risk for large companies like Netflix. 

While the company has survived subscriber losses before, the continuous public attacks from a powerful figure like Musk make it impossible to ignore the political side of its content decisions in America. 

Moving forward, Netflix would most likely need to balance its goal of appealing to a wide global audience with the demands of highly vocal and opposing groups of American users and beyond, or consider a better alternative.