Netflix account cancellations spike in days after co-founder and chairman Reed Hastings endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris and donated millions of dollars to her presidential campaign, according to a report It is said that he did.
Streaming platforms typically have the lowest churn, or cancellation, rates in the industry, but after Hastings' endorsement, that rate nearly tripled in the U.S., according to researcher Antenna.
The majority of U.S. customers canceled their Netflix subscriptions at a rate of 2.8% in July, higher than any month since February. According to a report from Bloomberg.
Subscribers likely deactivated their accounts en masse as the streaming giant discontinued its cheapest ad-free option, the Basic plan, in the same month.
Still, the report said there was an unusual spike in cancellations in the five days following Hastings' endorsement, even considering the surge in July.
“Congratulations to Kamala Harris. It's time to win.” Hastings I wrote it in X's post July 22, after Harris officially became the Democratic nominee.
after that, Information reported Mr. Hastings had donated $7 million to an anti-Donald Trump Republican PAC to support Ms. Harris.
Trump supporters denounced the donations and called for a boycott on social media. Some online users falsely claimed that Netflix itself donated millions of dollars to Harris.
Disgruntled subscribers posted photos of their canceled accounts online with the hashtag #CancelNetflix.
July 26, three days after the donation was made public, was Netflix's worst cancellation date of the year, according to Bloomberg.
Netflix did not respond to requests for comment.
It's unclear whether the cancellation will have a significant long-term impact on Netflix's business.
But the short-lived Netflix boycott is reminiscent of social media-driven campaigns against companies that engage in DEI.
Conservative activist Robbie Starbuck called on hundreds of thousands of his supporters to boycott companies and pressured many companies to discontinue DEI practices.
His targets include companies that rely on a significant consumer base in red states, including Ford, Harley-Davidson, John Deere and Tractor Supply.
In response to the killing of George Floyd in 2020 and the subsequent Black Lives Matter movement, many companies, including those in the entertainment industry, rushed to implement diversity initiatives.
Netflix fulfilled its 2020 promise. Move 2% of your cash to black-owned banks.
In June 2020, Hastings and his wife Patti Quillin donated $120 million at historically black colleges and universities.
But some companies in the industry have faced backlash as their efforts seeped into politics. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis clashed with Disney after the company criticized a law that bans discussion of gender identity in classrooms.
Netflix's skyrocketing cancellation rate is just the latest political casualty to hit the entertainment company.
Hastings, who co-founded Netflix in 1997 and retired as CEO in 2023, has donated billions of dollars to philanthropy over the years. He has also donated to Democratic and some Republican candidates and PACs over the years.
He has been outspoken about this year's elections, being one of the largest and first Democratic donors to urge President Biden to withdraw from the July campaign.
“Biden must step down so that energetic Democratic leaders can defeat Trump and protect our security and prosperity,” he continued. told the New York Times Via email.
