Netflix sees a spike in cancellations after its founder endorsed Harris for president

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Netflix suffered its worst day for cancellations this year after co-founder Reed Hastings endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris for president and revealed he had donated millions to her campaign.

July was already the month with the highest churn rate on the streaming service in 2024, with a churn rate of 2.8 percent. This was partly due to the streaming giant launching its base tariff – the cheapest ad-free one offered – on July 13th Plan priced at $11.99 per month – discontinued.

But 10 days later, Netflix saw a five-day spike in users boycotting the platform – an exodus that began after the company's chief executive voiced his support for Harris, they say Bloomberg.

“Congratulations to Kamala Harris – now it’s time to win,” Hastings tweeted in the early hours of July 23, two days after Harris announced her presidential campaign.

Later that day, the tech mogul revealed this The information that he had donated $7 million to The Republican Accountability PAC — a staunchly anti-Donald Trump political action committee that describes itself as “Republicans and conservatives who hate” what the former president did to the Republican Party.

A crowd of angry MAGA supporters took to X that day to post screenshots of their canceled subscriptions.

“I canceled my Netflix subscription,” one person wrote, teasing another: “I feel like this cost Netflix well over $7 million.”

A third added: “I think it’s time to boycott Netflix. They’re asking too much of the Americans anyway.”

Three days later, on July 26, Netflix recorded its worst day of cancellations this year.

It's not clear whether Hastings' endorsement of Harris had an impact on the streaming service beyond the five-day spike in cancellations.

The Independent has contacted Hastings and Netflix for comment.

While Hastings has long been a Democratic donor, giving an additional $5.3 million in 2020 — including $1.4 million in support of President Joe Biden — he was not vocal about his views until recently to the election campaign.

On June 3, the party's mega-donor called for the first time publicly in an interview with Biden that he resign from the Democratic Party The New York Times.

A day later, Hastings shared an article from The Economist titled “Why Biden Must Retire.”

On July 21, the day Biden gave up his re-election campaign, the entrepreneur wrote on “Damn, go!”

Like much of Silicon Valley, some of Netflix's high-profile employees are left-leaning. Co-CEO Ted Sarandos is married to Nicole Avant, a former ambassador under the Obama administration.

According to the Center for Responsive Politics' OpenSecrets website, Netflix employees who donated to either major party sent 98 percent of their political donations to Democrats in the 2020 election.

Elon Musk took to X on Sunday night to condemn Netflix for its “one-sided” donations to Democrats.

He shared a graphic that claimed Netflix employees donated $4.4 million to the party this election cycle, along with the caption: “Donations from Netflix employees couldn't be more lopsided in favor of the Democratic Party.” “

Quiver Quantitative, a stock market data analysis tool that created the graphic, later wrote on X that “most of Netflix's employee donations come from the company's co-founder and CEO.”