Credit: ITMAs the feud between Elon Musk and Disney continues, Musk is making some major changes to his line of vehicles.
Related: Walt Disney World Prices Rise as Christmas Crowds Mount
As a result of Elon Musk’s continued attacks against The Walt Disney Company, Tesla, the car company created and owned by Musk, has begun to erase Disney’s streaming service off its vehicles. A new report from Drive Tesla Canada revealed the decision, discussing ways that owners of Teslas could avoid this change if they wished to keep Disney+ in their vehicles.
The Disney+ app was removed as part of the holiday software update. For Tesla owners who have already installed the update, there is still a way to keep Disney+ on your vehicle.
Disney+ is Disney’s streaming service. Launched in 2019, it has become one of the most popular streaming services ever. Disney was able to carve out a large corner of the market, competing with industry giants like Netflix and Hulu.
Related: Disney Announces New 50% Discount on Future Cruises
Tesla is reportedly only removing the Disney+ streaming service from cars that have never opened and used the actual app. This means that certain users are still able to access Disney+ on their personal vehicles. If you haven’t yet received the previously mentioned holiday update, you can save Disney+ on your device by opening the app before installing the update.
Disney+ is accessed through the Tesla Theater app, an application that allows users to access a wide range of entertainment offerings. An official statement from Musk or Tesla has not yet been made, but the timing of this change leads us to believe this was done out of further retaliation against the Walt Disney Company.
Related: Disney “Takes Over” New Streaming Service with 75 Million Users
Elon Musk has brought The Walt Disney Company into a very ugly battle that Disney seemingly is trying to ignore. Earlier this year, Disney halted some of its posts on X (Twitter), a social media site owned by Elon Musk. Disney was not the only high-profile company that cut ties with Musk, with dozens of companies and corporations embarking on a somewhat temporary boycott of X as a whole.
Musk, the founder of other companies like Tesla and The Boring Company, purchased Twitter for $44 billion back in 2022 and has since changed the site in some major ways. The biggest change came in 2023 when Musk announced that he would be renaming Twitter to X.
In November of 2023, Musk told Walt Disney Company CEO Bob Iger and other executives to “Go F*** Yourselves.” This comment came as part of an interview Musk did shortly after the corporate boycott of X. This is far from the first rash decision Musk has made, but with how large of a company Disney actually is, Musk may have bitten off a little more than he can chew. Fans of Musk proceeded to initiate their own boycott of Disney+ in retaliation. It’s possible the decision to erase Disney+ from Tesla vehicles will fuel this boycott even more.
This is also not the first battle The Walt Disney Company has found itself in, with Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis continuing to call out and threaten the company over its actions in 2022. Disney and DeSantis are embroiled in multiple lawsuits, with the relationship between Florida and Disney potentially permanently damaged.
What are your thoughts on this story? Do you use Disney+?