Fans Are Demanding a Netflix Boycott for More Than the Late "Love Is Blind" Start
Chaos ensued when the live reunion of the reality show was delayed by over an hour.
After a dramatic and much talked-about fourth season of Love Is Blind, fans were looking forward to watching the reunion show—which Netflix had announced would be airing live—to see the cast answer for some of their more controversial decisions. Many viewers planned their weekends around it, hosting watch parties and otherwise planning to take part in the conversation. The streaming service had scheduled the Love Is Blind reunion to air on Sunday, April 16 at 8 p.m. ET. But, when 8 p.m. rolled around, the reunion didn't begin. As the delay stretched on, subscribers who tried to access the special instead found either a message that the reunion would be starting soon or an error message that it was not available.
The Love Is Blind reunion was only the service's second live streaming event in history. The first, which was not delayed, was the March standup special Chris Rock: Selective Outrage. After the reality dating show debacle, some fans of Love Is Blind are saying that they want to boycott Netflix—not only because their time was wasted but for other issues with the special, too. Read on to find out more.
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The reunion began over an hour late.
The interim message Netflix put on screen for some viewers who tried to access the reunion, "The live event will start soon," indicated that the delay would be a short one. But, that proved not to be the case. Others who started the stream were met with a different message that read, "We're having trouble playing this title right now. Please try again later or select a different title."
Netflix then tweeted, "Promise #LoveIsBlindLIVE will be worth the wait…." along with a photo of series villain Irina Solomonova.
The reunion eventually began 75 minutes late, as reported by People.
Netflix apologized.
During the delay, Netflix tweeted an apology to viewers anxiously awaiting the event. "To everyone who stayed up late, woke up early, gave up their Sunday afternoon… we are incredibly sorry that the Love is Blind Live Reunion did not turn out as we had planned," the tweet reads. "We're filming it now and we'll have it on Netflix as soon as humanly possible. Again, thank you and sorry."
Netflix also acknowledged that the stream was still inaccessible to some viewers when it did officially begin, and announced that it would be available for everyone the following day. "Love Is Blind: The Reunion will be available globally at 12pm PT on April 17. Promise." No reason was given for the issues.
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Their apology was not enough for some viewers.
Love Is Blind fans so upset about the delay that some took to social media to call for a boycott. "EVERYONE CANCEL THEIR NETFLIX RN WE MUST BOYCOTT," wrote one Twitter user. Another said, "Why can't I watch it yet other people can? I'm about to cancel Netflix. Love Is Blind was the last good show and they dropped the ball on this live episode." Someone else wrote, "At what point do we give up and boycott @netflix until we get 3 months free for our time wasted #LOVEISBLINDreunion."
Some subscribers were particularly upset, because Netflix has increased its prices over the years and recently put plans into place to reduce password sharing.
"At this point, Netflix should be paying ME to subscribe smh," a fan wrote on Twitter. "First cracking down on password sharing and now this? Boycott Netflix," someone else shared. Alongside a photo of the error message on their screen, another Twitter user said, "we deserve to all share the same password after this."
Fans slammed the reunion itself—once they finally saw it.
Some fans did get to see the reunion Sunday night, but they weren't happy with what they got. Many expressed disappointment in hosts Vanessa and Nick Lachey in particular.
"We waited over an hour to see that Jackie didn't show, Vanessa grilled the men and didn't hold the women accountable AND they hardly talked to Tiffany and Brett, the reason most of us were here. This reunion gets a 4/10," a fan shared.
Another added to the conversation, "Nick and Vanessa Lachey are terrible hosts. She asks all the wrong questions, takes the wrong sides and then goes, 'time to move on' before anyone's answered a single thing."
Someone else tweeted, "I just once again want to know what crimes Nick and Vanessa Lachey have witnessed for the execs to keep them on payroll. They're so awkward as hosts and have no chemistry with the cast lol."
One Twitter user wrote simply, "I think we can collectively agree that Nick and Vanessa are terrible hosts."
