In the summer, it was revealed that the co-founder of Netflix not only endorsed the campaign of Vice President Kamala Harris but also deposited millions into the coffers of the 2024 Democratic presidential nominee. The heavy-handed advocacy for Harris appears to have backfired as cancelations on the streaming behemoth soared directly after the political endorsement.
As Blaze News reported in early July, several high-profile Democratic donors demanded that President Joe Biden drop out of the 2024 presidential race following his disastrous debate performance against former President Donald Trump. Included among the Democratic donors who called on Biden to drop out was Netflix co-founder Reed Hastings.
Netflix is the latest major company to suffer a boycott at the hands of conservative consumers.
“Biden needs to step aside to allow a vigorous Democratic leader to beat Trump and keep us safe and prosperous,” Hastings said in July.
Once Harris was installed as the presumptive Democratic presidential nominee, Hastings donated a whopping $7 million to Kamala’s campaign. Hastings told The Information that it was the single-largest political donation that he had ever doled out.
Hastings, a longtime Democratic donor, has a net worth of $4.3 billion, according to Forbes.
Hastings said of Kamala’s campaign, “After the depressing debate, we are in the game again.”
Hastings wrote on the X social media platform on July 23, “Congrats to Kamala Harris — now it is time to win.”
As soon as the extremely generous donation and public endorsement was revealed, it ignited a backlash against Hastings and the streaming behemoth. Many conservatives called for a boycott of Netflix in response to Hastings supporting Harris.
The hashtag “CancelNetflix” began trending on social media. Many users shared screenshots of their canceled Netflix subscriptions online.
A new report revealed that Netflix suffered a major spike in cancelations after the streaming service’s chairman endorsed Harris.
Antenna — a research website that has a mission to “expand knowledge of subscriber behavior” — reported that the rate of Netflix cancelations nearly tripled in the United States immediately following the Harris endorsement by Hastings. The tidal wave of cancelations reportedly lasted a few days.
Some subscribers were also upset because Netflix discontinued its basic plan for new users in the same month.
However, Bloomberg reported that “the five-day period after Hastings’ endorsement was unusual, even for July.” July 26 — three days after Hastings’ endorsement of Harris — was the single-worst day for Netflix cancelations this year.
The outlet noted that the surge of cancelations wasn’t as severe as the 2020 boycott of Netflix over the movie “Cuties,” which many conservatives believed sexually exploited children.
Netflix did not respond to a request for comment from Bloomberg.
Netflix is the latest major company to suffer a boycott at the hands of conservative consumers. Companies such as Bud Light, Target, Disney, Ford, Harley-Davidson, Tractor Supply, Jack Daniel’s, and John Deere have seen conservatives boycott or threaten to boycott over liberal policies.
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