Netflix is defending a social media post that critics say referenced the fatal shooting of Charlie Kirk at Utah Valley University, one year to the day after the Turning Point USA founder was killed there.
Kirk was shot in the neck on September 10, 2025, while speaking with a student at UVU in Orem. On the anniversary of his death, the Netflix UK & Ireland account on X posted a photo of a male character from its show “The Gentlemen” appearing to crane his neck, captioned, “Nearly did himself a neck injury.”
A Netflix spokesperson told Us Weekly the post was tied to the show’s plot, not to Kirk. “This post directly references a plot point from our UK series, The Gentlemen, which launched its second season on September 3. Suggestions that it has any link to sensitive real world events are inaccurate and ludicrous,” the spokesperson said.
Many social media users didn’t accept that explanation, pointing to the date of the post as more than coincidence.
“Netflix knows EXACTLY what they did with that post today, that’s not a coincidence by any means,” one X user wrote.
Conservative commentator Matt Walsh weighed in as well, writing, “These ‘neck injury’ references are a meme among retarded demonic leftists. Way too much of a coincidence that Netflix posts this today of all days. Clear what was intended. Despicable.”
Commentator Jon Root argued that even if the timing was unintentional, Netflix owed the Kirk family an apology. “I don’t believe this to be a coincidence, but if it happens to be so, they need to apologize to the Kirk family publicly, at very least,” he wrote, adding that a similar post timed to the anniversary of George Floyd’s death would have drawn riots and apologies.
Other users noted that Netflix had not deleted the post hours after it went up, and some pointed to the political donation history of Netflix employees as reason for suspicion.
The post has prompted a wave of subscribers to say they are canceling their Netflix memberships in response.
Kirk, a nationally known conservative activist, was fatally shot at UVU during a campus event a year ago. His death continues to draw attention and reaction nationwide, and the anniversary itself was already a sensitive moment for Utahns connected to the university and the community where the shooting took place.
