Netflix, one of the top streaming services for a variety of movies, documentaries, and series, is under fire. Cuties, a drama that follows a young girl, aged 11, who joins a free-spirited dance crew. However, since its release, there are reviews stating the movie is very explicit with child exploitation.
After an upheave of disappointment about the film since last month, Netflix has been indicted in Texas for ‘lewd depictions of children’. Netflix’s co-CEO’s Reed Hastings and Ted Sarandos are named in the indictment with the charge being a state jail felony.
As reported by The Verge, Netflix is being charged with “Promotion of Lewd Visual Material Depicting A Child,” a criminal act in Texas. In the indictment, the charge allegesd that Cuties “depicts the lewd exhibition of the genitals or pubic area of a clothed or partially clothed child who was younger than 18 years of age at the time the visual material was created,” as stated in the filing.
On the flip side, Netflix is standing on its defense of no wrongdoing in streaming the movie. In fact, Cuties was shown at the Sundance Film Festival back in 2017. At the film festival, director and writer Maimouna Doucouré was awarded the Sundance’s Global Filmmaking Award.
“Cuties is a social commentary against the sexualization of young children. This charge is without merit and we stand by the film,” stated Netflix’s spokesperson on the pending charges.
