After Netflix co-founder and chairman Reed Hastings publicly endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris, the company experienced a significant surge in subscription cancellations.
Bloomberg reported on Monday that the cancellation rate for Netflix subscriptions in the U.S. reached 2.8% in July, the highest level since February. This increase was largely attributed to the discontinuation of the ad-free Basic plan. Notably, the cancellation rate spiked dramatically during the five days following Hastings’ endorsement of Harris.
On July 22, Hastings expressed his support for Harris on X (formerly Twitter), writing, “Congrats to Kamala Harris—now it is time to win.”
The day after, it was reported that Hastings donated $7 million to a Super PAC backing Harris. Following this, supporters of former President Donald Trump initiated a campaign urging people to cancel their Netflix subscriptions, contributing to the rise in cancellations.
Bloomberg noted that July 26, just three days after the news of Hastings’ political donation, marked the highest number of Netflix cancellations this year. Meanwhile, Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos is married to Nicole Avant, the U.S. Ambassador to the Bahamas during the Obama administration, and has been actively involved in political activities supporting the Democratic Party.
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