Netflix experiences surge in cancellations amidst “Cuties” controversy

Posted byBroderick VisserPosted inEconomics, NewsTags:, , , , , ,

Above feature photo courtesy of Netflix.

According to @AntennaData on Twitter, Netflix US has experienced five times the amount of subscription cancellations in five days that they would normally see in just one month due to the ‘Cuties‘ backlash.

This data doesn’t include the number of subscription cancellations — Only time will tell if it will have an impact on the 72.9 million U.S. subscribers Netflix has.

With that in mind, while researching for this article, Diverge Media couldn’t find any Canadian data for Netflix cancellations.

Other data from New York-based YipitData, shows the cancellation rate jumping nearly eight times higher than the average daily levels from August — according to Variety.

Netflix Inc’s stock price, September 17, 2020.

As of market close on Sept. 17, Netflix’s stock price sits at $470.20 USD.

Netflix’s stock sat at $500.19 USD as of Sept., 9, 2020 — the day of the release of Cuties.

The difference in stock value from September 9 to September 17 at close is $29.99 USD per share.

They lost a tremendous amount over this ordeal and of course Netflix knew how controversial this would be. — But it doesn’t matter anyways since they gained millions of new subscribers during the first few months of the COVID-19 lockdown when everyone was stuck at home.

Subscription cancellations began to rise on Sept., 10, 2020.

#CancelNetflix was the top trending hashtag on Twitter that same day. YipitData told Variety this was a “multiyear high” for cancellations.

This beat the Disney+ launch back in November 2019 where Netflix saw 1.7 times higher the amount of cancellations than in the previous 30 days.

Cuties shows young girls wearing revealing dance uniforms dancing suggestively. The movie also has a scene where the lead character takes a picture of her crotch and posts it on social media.

According to Forbes, the movie doesn’t show any underage nudity — although some scenes can be quite disturbing for viewers to watch.

Regardless, many are demanding it be removed from Netflix because it “sexualizes children” and many are calling it “Child Pornography.”

The Cuties’ director won the directing award at the Sundance Film Festival.

Coincidentally enough, the Sundance Co-Founder, Sterling Van Wagenen, was sentenced to six years to life in prison after pleading guilty to sexual abuse of a child back in July of 2019. He is currently 73-years-old.

What do you think about the ‘Cuties‘ controversy?
Did you cancel your Netflix subscriptions? Why or why not?

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