Kalshi accuses Netflix of defamation over trailer

Kalshi sent Netflix a cease-and-desist letter on July 24 accusing the streamer of defamation over a trailer for the documentary Instadocs: The Prediction Games. The letter demanded the trailer be removed and a public retraction issued before the film’s July 26 premiere.

The dispute centers on a brief scene filmed at a private Las Vegas World Cup watch event that shows a guest holding a phone. Kalshi’s complaint says the image implies the company allowed sports betting in Nevada in violation of a state court order. The company contends the phone image is a saved screenshot dated May 16, 2025, not an active trade, points to the word “crop” on the screen and says the slip uses the term “bet slip,” language Kalshi says does not match its platform.

Kalshi’s marketing head, Brandon Beckhardt, wrote on X that the company alerted Netflix to the issue before the trailer circulated and that Netflix had agreed to pull the clip. Kalshi reported the trailer remained available as of July 25.

Netflix pushed back in a statement, noting the disputed trade was placed in May 2025, before Nevada restrictions took effect. The streamer said the scene was filmed at a private Winible World Cup Watch Weekend event in Las Vegas, and that Winible told production the trade was executed outside Nevada. Netflix added that tracking a position from any location is permitted under the law.

The dispute sits against ongoing legal actions in Nevada. Regulators issued a temporary restraining order against Kalshi in March 2026, followed by a preliminary injunction and an amended order on May 18 requiring Kalshi to geofence prohibited contracts and block Nevada users from sports-event trading. Kalshi reached an agreement to deploy a multi-source geofencing system using a provider such as GeoComply and faces a compliance deadline of August 12, 2026, or penalties of $120,000 per day.

Kalshi maintains it barred sports-event contracts in Nevada as of May 4, 2026, and argues the trailer undermines that position during active litigation. Gaming attorney Daniel Wallach pointed to overlapping timelines, noting court filings from the injunction period referenced trades that slipped through while the company also told producers it had blocked Nevada sports trading, a fact that could complicate a defamation claim based on total falsity.

The documentary traces the rise of prediction markets and includes appearances by Commodity Futures Trading Commission Chair Michael Selig, Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour and Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan. Netflix estimated that more than $5.6 billion moved through Kalshi and Polymarket during the 2026 World Cup final. Kalshi cooperated with the film’s production but moved to block the trailer after it aired.

In the cease-and-desist, Kalshi asked Netflix to remove the clip and publish a retraction before the premiere. As of July 25 the trailer remained online and Netflix had not confirmed edits or a retraction. Beckhardt wrote on X: “Netflix had a chance to make a genuinely interesting documentary about prediction markets. Instead, they made a sensationalized film built on fiction.”