Streaming giant Netflix faced accusations of being ‘tasteless’ and ‘myopic’ after promoting a horror film about a hook-wielding killer in a town called Southport – without realising the stark connotation for UK viewers.
The platform had been attempting to publicise a trailer for I Know What You Did Last Summer, which is making a comeback 28 years after its debut.
Loosely based on Lois Duncan’s novel of the same name, the original box office hit first came out in 1997, followed by I Still Know What You Did Last Summer a year later.
But fans turned on Netflix last night after it posted a still from the trailer on X with the clumsily-worded caption: ‘This isn’t the first time there’s been violence like this in Southport.’
UK-based social media users were swift to point out that the post – while referring to Southport, North Carolina – was insensitive to the tragic stabbings of Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, and Bebe King, six, at a Taylor Swift-themed summer camp in Southport, Merseyside, last July.
Axel Rudakubana, 18, was jailed for a minimum of 52 years in January for the triple killing. He was also charged with the attempted murder of eight other children, who cannot be named for legal reasons, class instructor Leanne Lucas and businessman John Hayes.
In the aftermath of the tragedy, false information about the alleged perpetrator of the Southport attack fuelled an unprecedented outbreak of violence and rioting in 27 towns, with the unrest ending in more than 1,500 people being arrested across the UK.
One user wrote in disbelief of the now-deleted Tweet: ‘A bit tasteless, eh?’
Streaming giant Netflix faced accusations of being ‘tasteless’ and ‘myopic’ after promoting a horror film about a hook-wielding killer in a town called Southport – without realising the stark connotation for UK viewers
Fans turned on Netflix last night after it posted a still from the trailer on X with the clumsily-worded caption: ‘This isn’t the first time there’s been violence like this in Southport’
Another said: ‘Erm, you need to have a chat with your UK office about why this needs to be deleted.’
A third wrote: ‘Oh, my god. This is in extremely bad taste! I can only assume you’re not in the UK and have no idea what evil things happened in Southport just a few months ago!’
Other users called on Netflix to delete the post.
‘I’ll assume you’re American and as myopic as they come, but change the caption. Not cool,’ another pleaded.
The revamped film, directed by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson and slated for release on July 18, stars original cast members Jennifer Love Hewitt as Julie James and Freddie Prinze Jr as Ray Bronson.
Netflix, which has since deleted the post, has been contacted for comment.
Rudakubana, who was 17 at the time of the killings, was handed what is thought to be the longest imposed sentence on a killer of his age.
He could not legally receive a whole-life order, a punishment reserved for offenders aged 21 and over or, in rare cases, those aged 18 to 20, because of his age at the time of the attack.
A parent of one of the children who survived the stabbings, who cannot be named for legal reasons, previously told The Sun that Rudakubana’s crimes were so horrific that he should ‘rot in jail’ and the ‘law needs changing’.
After the sentencing, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch, backed by shadow home secretary Chris Philp, said there was a ‘strong case’ for amending the law to allow for whole-life orders to be imposed on people aged under 18 in some cases.
Loosely based on Lois Duncan’s novel of the same name, the original box office hit first came out in 1997 starring Freddie Prinze Jr, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Geller and Ryan Phillippe
The revamped film stars original cast members Jennifer Love Hewitt as Julie James and Freddie Prinze Jr (pictured) as Ray Bronson
Slated for release on July 18, the film follows on from the success of the original in 1997
UK-based X users were swift to point out that the post – while referring to Southport, North Carolina – was insensitive to the tragic stabbings in Southport, Merseyside, last July
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said at the time that the ‘vile offender will likely never be released’.
Agreeing with that sentiment, Attorney General Lord Hermer KC said he would not be referring the sentence to the Court of Appeal under the unduly lenient sentence scheme due to the additional distress it would cause to the families.
In a statement, Lord Hermer said: ‘The senseless and barbaric murder of three young girls in Southport last summer shocked our nation.
‘No words come anywhere close to expressing the brutality and horror in this case.’
Harrowing evidence of the injuries suffered by the girls during the attack at The Hart Space was read out during a hearing at Liverpool Crown Court, with Bebe suffering a total of 122 sharp force injuries and Elsie being subjected to 85.
Rudakubana, who was born in Cardiff, also admitted possession of a knife, production of a biological toxin, ricin, and possession of information likely to be useful to a person committing or preparing to commit an act of terrorism.
Axel Rudakubana brutally murdered three young girls at a Taylor Swift themed dance class in Southport, Merseyside, last July
Unrest erupted across the country in the wake of the attack, after false information spread online about the perpetrator
Alice da Silva Aguiar, nine, (pictured) was one of the three girls killed in the horrific attack
Bebe King, six, (pictured) was also murdered by Rudakubana during the tragic incident in July
Elsie Dot Stancombe, seven, (pictured) was among the three little girls killed by Axel Rudakubana
Around 1,000 rioters took to the streets in the Merseyside town barely an hour after the community had gathered to remember Alice Aguiar, nine, six-year-old Bebe King and Elsie Stancombe, seven
A scene from the violence that erupted on July 30 in Southport following reports of three young girls who were fatally stabbed in the town a day earlier
A police car burns as officers are deployed on the streets of Hartlepool following a violent protest on July 31
Protesters spray fire extinguishers at riot police officers during scenes of unrest in Sunderland on August 2
Three separate referrals were made to the Government’s anti-terror programme, Prevent, about Rudakubana’s behaviour in the years before the attack, as well as six separate calls to police.
The Government announced a public inquiry into the stabbings, which began this month, with Chancellor Rachel Reeves saying the probe would need to establish Prevent’s approach to determining ideology and what it regards as terror.
Unrest erupted across the country in the wake of the attack, with mosques and hotels used for asylum seekers among the locations targeted, after false information spread online claiming that the suspect was an asylum seeker who had arrived in the UK on a small boat.
More than 1,500 arrests linked to disorder across the country have since been made and hundreds of people have been charged and jailed.