Elon Musk Vs. Netflix: Billionaire Criticizes 'Stranger Things' Gay Storyline – 'Completely Unnecessary'

Streaming giant Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) is set to end 2025 on a high note with the release of the fifth and final season of "Stranger Things" coming in three parts across the months of November and December. The record-breaking show has many fans around the world, but billionaire Elon Musk isn't a fan of one of the plotlines for the final season.

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Musk Vs. Netflix

Part two of the fifth and final season of "Stranger Things" premiered on the streaming platform on Christmas Day with three episodes released at 8 p.m. ET, hours after Netflix also streamed two live National Football League games.

Millions of people likely watched the three episodes, which could add to the records and strong viewership for the fifth season. The first four episodes were released on Nov. 26 and garnered 59.6 million views in their first week on Netflix.

With the series set to end with a final episode released on New Year's Eve (Dec. 31), the final episodes have many plotlines to wrap up or to set up for potential spinoffs.

One of the plotlines in the new episodes is the character of Will Byers coming out to his friends.

"The truth is. I am different. I just pretended like I wasn't because I didn't want to be. I don't like girls," Byers says during an episode.

A user on social media platform X said that fans of the show are criticizing the moment from the series and said, "the culture is changing."

The post prompted attention from Musk, who may or may not have watched "Stranger Things" based on his comments.

"It's completely unnecessary and forced on audiences who just want to enjoy some basic sci-fi," Musk said.

Most viewers of the series knew Byers was gay based on other episodes, including a season one episode where his mother says Will's father used to call him "queer," hinting at his potential sexuality. Musk must have missed these early plotlines that were used to develop the character, or chose to only highlight his criticism when the character explicitly shared his sexuality.

Noah Schnapp portrays Byers in the show. The 21-year-old came out as gay in 2023 with a public TikTok video saying he was "more similar to Will than I thought," connecting his real life to the gay character.

"Stranger Things" also features the lesbian character Robin Buckley.

Musk has previously shared that some of his favorite television shows are "Silicon Valley" and "Black Mirror." Both those shows have gay characters and storylines, but did not receive the same negative attention from the billionaire.

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Musk Past Netflix Criticism

This isn't the first time Musk has criticized Netflix and not even the first time this year. The billionaire told his followers to cancel their accounts with the streaming giant in October.

The October criticism came with clips from "Dead End: Paranormal Park" going viral on X, with the show's director, Hamish Steele, accused of making critical comments about the death of Charlie Kirk. The show ran for two seasons and was later cancelled in 2023, with episodes still available on Netflix at the time.

The show has a transgender character and also comes with a Y7 rating, with several accounts saying this means the show is targeted at children and pushing trans ideals on kids.

Musk suggested that he had canceled his Netflix subscription and encouraged his followers to do the same.

The billionaire shared a post accusing Netflix of "pushing pro-transgender" content to children.

"Cancel Netflix for the health of your kids," Musk said.

Musk also previously attacked Netflix in March over the show “Adolescence,” accusing the streamer of “anti-white propaganda.”

Shortly after Musk's criticism of Netflix and its LGBTQ+ content in October, the Pentagon also attacked the streamer for its "woke" content, including the coming-of-age military series "Boots," which was released on Netflix on Oct. 9.

A Pentagon spokesperson told Entertainment Weekly that the Pentagon does not support the Netflix series, highlighting recent efforts by Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth and President Donald Trump to change the military.  

The show had strong early reviews from viewers, but Netflix recently announced "Boots" would not be renewed for a second season.

First Quarter Record Anticipated

While “Stranger Things” set a viewership record in December, Netflix is hoping it will announce a different record in 2026 when it reports fourth-quarter financial results.

Analysts expect Netflix to report fourth-quarter revenue of $11.96 billion, according to data from Benzinga Pro. That estimate is up from $10.25 billion in last year’s first quarter and from the record revenue of $11.51 billion reported in this year’s third quarter.

While third-quarter revenue was a record, it narrowly missed analyst estimates, marking the company’s first revenue miss in nine quarters.

The third quarter saw record revenue, advertising revenue and viewership, metrics that could be beaten in the fourth quarter.

It’s important to remember that “Stranger Things” is being released in three parts for the fifth season, including more than 500 movie theaters showing the final episode on Dec. 31, including some AMC Entertainment Holdings (NYSE:AMC) locations.

The streaming giant could be faced with pressure on subscriptions during the fourth quarter, if Musk and the Trump administration were able to convince followers to cancel their Netflix plans over LGBTQ+ content.

"Stranger Things," NFL games on Christmas, and other fourth-quarter content could be enough to soften any subscriber concerns, but investors and analysts will be closely watching to see if revenue hits new records.

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Image created using artificial intelligence via Gemini.