Tesla has removed Disney+ from its vehicles, a decision that appears to be closely tied to CEO Elon Musk's ongoing feud with Disney CEO Bob Iger. This move comes as a response to Disney pulling advertising from Musk's social media platform, X.
The feud between Musk and Disney escalated after Musk's inflammatory comments at the New York Times DealBook Summit. When asked about advertisers leaving X, Musk sharply criticized those boycotting the platform, using harsh language and directly mentioning Bob Iger.
Tesla owners began noticing the removal of Disney+ from the Tesla Theater yesterday. It looks like Tesla is only removing Disney+ from vehicles where it hasn’t been used it recently, although the change is not going unnoticed and owners are understandably upset.
Tesla added Disney+ support to its vehicles in the summer of 2021 and then expanded support to Australia and Europe in the spring of 2022.
How to Get Disney+ Back
Thankfully, there is a simple way to get Disney+ back in Tesla Theater. Since Tesla is only hiding the app from owners who haven't used it, you can easily get it to show up again by using Disney+ in the browser.
Simply navigate to DisneyPlus.com and you'll notice that it goes full screen and the app gets re-added to Tesla Theater.
If you still need Disney+, don’t worry.
— Whole Mars Catalog (@WholeMarsBlog) December 18, 2023
Just type the URL into your car’s browser, and you’re good to go. pic.twitter.com/AmBrkI4lYH
The removal of Disney+ has Tesla potentially overreaching by removing features over business deals that don't directly involve Tesla or their customers. However, these kinds of situations are new and often occur in the cable industry when cable operators shut off channels when haggling with broadcasters such as CBS and Disney.
However, the move could backfire on Tesla. Critics argue that Musk's vendettas should not influence the offerings of a public company. The decision to remove Disney+ is already been criticized as a petty and juvenile reaction.
As the saga continues, it remains to be seen how this clash between two titans of industry will evolve. For now, Tesla owners and Disney+ subscribers are caught in the crossfire of a corporate feud.
