Topline
X owner Elon Musk made repeated calls Wednesday for Netflix subscribers to cancel their memberships over comments Hamish Steele, director of a canceled Netflix animated series, made about conservative activist Charlie Kirk, with Musk also taking aim at the streaming service’s LGBTQ programming and diversity commitments.
“Cancel Netflix,” Musk wrote in a Wednesday afternoon post on X, quoting another post made by the right-wing Libs of TikTok account, which shared screenshots of a company report in which Netflix said it had increased the number of non-white directors and lead actors on its programs.
In an earlier post on X on Tuesday, Musk reshared a post from another user who said they are canceling their Netflix subscription because the company employed “someone who celebrated the murder of Charlie Kirk and makes content that pushes pro-trans content on my kids,” and wrote: “Same.”
The calls for cancellation appear to stem from an apparent post made by Steele criticizing British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s tweet mourning Kirk’s death.
According to a screenshot of Steele’s alleged post, which was shared on X by Libs of TikTok, the animated show’s director purportedly wrote: “Why the f— are you even commenting on this, d—head…a random nazi gets shot and it’s a public statement.”
The Libs of TikTok accounts had earlier shared clips of Steele’s animated show “Dead End: Paranormal Park,” which was canceled in January 2023, and claimed it was “pushing pro-transgender on CHILDREN.”
Musk reshared the post attacking the animated show and wrote: “This is not ok,” and later boosted another post attacking the streamer for pushing a “transgender woke agenda,” saying “Cancel Netflix for the health of your kids.”
Netflix shares are down 2.2% to $1,173.12 as of Wednesday afternoon.
“Dead End: Paranormal Park” is an animated comedy series that ran for two seasons on Netflix from June to October 2022. The descriptive text included on the show’s page reads: “This spooky-but-sweet series follows a diverse group of employees at a haunted theme park, complete with vengeful spirits, a talking pug and LGBTQ+love.” The show’s first season received positive reviews from the small number of outlets that covered it and it has a 100% score on Rotten Tomatoes with only nine reviews. In its 2022 review, Mashable praised the show, saying: “Paranormal Park delivers meaningful LGBTQ representation.” In January 2023, Steele announced the show had been canceled by Netflix, saying, “It was always the plan to give these characters the proper ending they deserve. But sadly, the powers that be don’t want any more.” The statement, however, praised Netflix, saying: “I want to emphasize my gratitude to Netflix for commissioning the show and for giving us the freedom to tell this story.”
Right-wing critics backing the Netflix boycott cited clips from “Dead End: Paranormal Park” and other shows that feature LGBTQ characters, accusing Netflix of pushing a “woke” or “transgender” agenda on children. Critics circulated a clip from the “Dead End: Paranormal Park” in which Barney Guttman, the series’ protagonist, comes out to his friend Norma as transgender. “I’m trans, Norma,” Barney says. “Being here, it’s like a whole new place. I can just be Barney, and I can choose if and when I tell people.” The character says he has “never been happier” and says it is important to “live your life without apology.” Libs of TikTok shared the clip and accused the show of pushing “pro-transgender” on “7-YEAR-OLDS.” Libs of TikTok also shared clips from other shows available on Netflix that include LGBTQ themes, including one from the hugely popular children’s show “Cocomelon” that features a young boy wearing a tutu and dancing with his two dads. Libs of TikTok also posted a clip from the animated series “Jurassic World: Camp Cretaceous” in which two female characters confess their feelings for one another and kiss. “Isn’t it just supposed to be about dinosaurs? How many of these lgbtq propaganda shows are there on @netflix ???” the account said.
Steele has addressed the controversy in a few posts on Bluesky, noting: “It's all lies and slander! Netflix is NOT promoting [the show] at the moment!” A few hours later, he wrote: “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 [homophobic] 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.” After Libs of TikTok mentioned his Charlie Kirk post, Steele posted again, saying: “My Instagram comments are now flooded with replies saying I AM CHARLIE KIRK and that I celebrated his death (which I never did).”