Netflix cancellations surge 'materially' in the wake of 'Cuties' controversy, data shows

Netflix (NFLX), facing serious backlash following the release of the French coming-of-age film “Cuties,” is seeing a wave of cancellations on the platform, new data suggests.

According to subscription analytics firm Antenna, Netflix cancellations surged 5x the normal amount following the release of “Cuties.”

Meanwhile, data analytics firm YipitData reported a similar trend, with the company telling Yahoo Finance that Netflix’s U.S. churn “rose materially” last weekend in the wake of the controversy. As of last Saturday, disconnects were running at nearly 8x the daily levels observed in August — a multi-year high, YipitData added.

“Cuties” has faced bipartisan blowback, with high profile politicians like Republican Senator Ted Cruz and Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard — who ran for the Democratic presidential nomination — hammering the film for over-sexualizing young girls. In recent days, the hashtag #CancelNetflix has been a big social media trending topic.

Yahoo Finance reached out to Netflix for comment, but the media giant said it “did not have anything to share” at this time.

Netflix — a major beneficiary of the “stay at home” COVID-19 trend and a perpetually hot tech stock — has faced subscriber losses in the past. Yet this time around, the cancellation rate seems significantly higher.

Antenna compared Netflix’s current cancellations to the last big event that caused a drop in users, which was the launch of Disney+ (DIS). Cancellations only surged 1.7x the normal daily rate following that launch, according to the company.