Netflix stock hits a 2-month low after Elon Musk tells followers to cancel subscription

Netflix is the latest target of Tesla's billionaire CEO, Elon Musk, in his ongoing battle against what he calls the "woke mind virus".

In recent days, the Tesla and SpaceX chief has launched a flurry of posts on X, the platform he owns, urging his 227 million followers to cancel their Netflix subscriptions. His message is "Cancel Netflix for the health of your kids."

The call led to a fall in Netflix shares on Thursday, taking them near a two-month low on Thursday.

Musk's call to cancel Netflix comes as an outrage over the animated show,

Dead End: Paranormal Park, which featured a teenage transgender character.

Although the series was cancelled in 2023 after two seasons, conservative accounts such as Libs of TikTok resurfaced clips from the show last week, framing it as evidence of a "transgender woke agenda." Musk amplified those posts, declaring that such content was "not ok."

The controversy deepened when attention shifted to Hamish Steele, the show’s creator. Steele, who is openly queer, had posted on rival platform Bluesky in September about conservative activist Charlie Kirk, who was

killed in a shooting.

Steele referred to Kirk as a "Nazi". Right-wing commentators accused Steele of mocking Kirk’s death, and Musk seized on those claims, reposting messages that accused Netflix of employing someone who "celebrated" Kirk’s murder.

Steele responded wryly on Bluesky, writing, "It’s probably going to be a very odd day." Supporters, including TV writer Jack Bernhardt, defended Dead End as a "brilliant show about kind, wonderful characters."

But Musk did not let up. He reposted dozens of comments linking Netflix to "grooming," "propaganda," and even "anti-white discrimination," after one viral post accused the streamer of boasting about prioritising "racially underrepresented" directors in its diversity report.

This is far from Musk’s first foray into cancel culture, despite calling himself a "free speech absolutist."

He has previously urged followers to delete Facebook, threatened to ban iPhones from Tesla facilities after Apple partnered with OpenAI, and posted "defund NPR" when the news outlet left X.

The Netflix row, however, is particularly charged because of Musk’s personal history. His 21-year-old daughter, Vivian Jenna Wilson, came out as transgender in 2022 and legally severed ties with her father, writing that she no longer wished to be "related to my biological father in any way."

Musk has since described her as "dead" to him, blaming "the woke mind virus" for her transition.

Musk's campaign has found high-profile supporters, including conservative comedian Rob Schneider, who thanked him for standing against what he called "evil trans indoctrination programming."

Netflix has not commented on Musk’s latest barrage. Measuring the effect of his calls is difficult as the company no longer reports quarterly subscriber figures, though users on X have posted screenshots of their cancellation confirmations.

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