Since its release on Netflix Inc (NASDAQ:NFLX) on March 13, "Adolescence" has been one of the most-watched series on the streaming platform, adding to the potential strong lineup of 2025 content.
Billionaire Elon Musk shared a theory about the series, which has the show's co-writer clapping back at his allegations.
What Happened: Netflix ended the fourth quarter with 301.63 million paid subscribers. The streaming giant could add to that figure throughout 2025 with many highly anticipated series coming back.
Adding to the 2025 early hype is "Adolescence."
While the series has drawn plenty of support, one social media user accused the series of "anti-white propaganda."
"Netflix has a show called Adolescence that's about a British knife killer who stabbed a girl to death on a bus and it's based on real-life cases such as the Southport murderer. So guess what. They race swapped the actual killer from a black man/migrant to a white boy and the story has it so he was radicalized online by the red pill movement. Just the absolute state of anti-white propaganda," journalist Ian Miles Cheong tweeted.
The tweet drew the attention of Musk, who replied, "Wow."
Another X user was quick to point out some false items in Cheong's tweet, including that the series was written and filming began before Southport happened.
Jack Thorne, who co-wrote "Adolescence," is now speaking out to clear the air. Thorne said on a podcast that "nothing could be further from the truth" when discussing the race-swapping allegations, as reported by Variety.
"There is no part of this that's based on a true story, not one single part," Thorne said.
The series co-writer said having a white boy in the series isn't about making a point about race.
"We're not making a point about race with this. We are making a point about masculinity. We're trying to get inside a problem. We're not saying this is one thing or another, we're saying that this is about boys."
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Why It's Important: The series drew 24.3 million views in its first week on Netflix and an additional 42 million views in its second week, ranking first among English-language shows each week.
On IMDb, the series ranks number one in popularity and has an 8.3 rating out of 10. The series also has top ratings on Rotten Tomatoes, with a critic rating of 99% and an audience score of 73%.
Musk's amplification of the anti-white propaganda post could keep some people from watching the series, which may be bad for Netflix.
The response from the show's co-writer is another example of how dangerous posts on social media can be in getting others to believe something just because another person said it was true.
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