Tesla has started removing the video streaming app Disney+ from some vehicles as the feud between Elon Musk and Disney CEO Bob Iger appears to have escalated. The app is being removed through the holiday software update, but the app isn’t disappearing for everyone. If you haven’t already installed the holiday update, there is a way to prevent it from being removed for you.
In case you haven’t heard, Musk purchased Twitter, now X, last year for $44 billion. Since his acquisition, the social media platform has had some ups and downs, most recently seeing many high profile advertisers leaving X over what many considered to be an anti-semitic post from Musk. One of those companies that pulled their advertising was Disney. As Musk is known to do, he stood his ground, telling companies that were taking their advertising dollars elsewhere to “go fuck yourself,” specifically calling out Iger by then saying “hi Bob,” and waving at the camera.
Now the feud between Musk’s X and Iger have spilled over to Tesla owners. With the release of the holiday update this past weekend, many owners are reporting that the Disney+ streaming app has been removed from the Theater app in their cars.
👀Tesla removes Disney+ app from vehicles pic.twitter.com/rlR0vGvAoY
— Tesla Software Updates (@TeslaSoftUpdate) December 18, 2023
However not everyone was seeing it removed, like on our Model Y which has 2023.44.30.1, the first version of the holiday update.
Still have Disney+ here in Canada (2023.44.30.1) pic.twitter.com/a4HJptwcYi
— Drive Tesla 🇨🇦 (@DriveTeslaca) December 18, 2023
Based on information shared by @WholeMarsBlog on X, Tesla is only removing Disney+ from cars that have never opened and used the app. This should mean that if you haven’t yet received and installed the holiday update, you can save Disney+ from being removed by opening the app before installing the update.
UPDATE 12:10pm PT: Accrdoing to @WholeMarsBlog, doing this also brings back the Disney+ icon to your Tesla Theater.
The funny part is Disney+ only gets hidden if you’ve never opened it before. So all the people who are outraged either haven’t looked in their car yet or actually never use it but are mad anyway 😂 https://t.co/F2uAloxGfg
— Whole Mars Catalog (@WholeMarsBlog) December 18, 2023
Of course if you haven’t yet used Disney+ in your car since it was first released in 2021, you probably aren’t going to be disappointed if it is removed. If it was removed from your car but you do still want to use it, there are some workarounds, like accessing it through the browser as mentioned by @WholeMarsBlog above. You can also access it through the browser by visiting abettertheater.com, which has the added benefit of being able to go full-screen compared to accessing it directly through the browser.
