Prediction market Kalshi sent Netflix a cease-and-desist letter on Friday demanding that the streaming service be taken down the trailer for an upcoming documentary. In the letter, Kalshi claimed that the trailer is “defamatory” and contains “both fabricated documents and false and misleading statements”.
“Instadocs: The Prediction Games” is a documentary about the rise of prediction markets. According to Netflix, the film — part of the streamer’s fast-moving “Instadoc” documentary series — features interviews with both Polymarket CEO Shayne Coplan and Kalshi CEO Tarek Mansour.
The trailer, however, focuses on a recent party in Las Vegas, where men who have “made millions of dollars in prediction markets, probably eight figures, a little during the World Cup” gathered to watch the World Cup final. One of the guests states, “I like to bet on Kalshi,” while another shows an apparent bet of $5,000 on their phone.
However, Kalshi is currently banned from doing business in Nevada due to a court order. In his cease and desist letter, Kalshi said the bet shown on the phone is actually a screenshot of a bet placed on May 16, 2025 — well before the ban. But the company argued that in the trailer, Netflix “misled its millions of customers into believing that this individual was able to successfully trade Nevada sporting event contracts on July 19, 2026.”
In her letter, Kalshi also said she recently spoke with a Netflix employee who “agreed that the proof will not appear in the documentary when it is released” on Sunday, July 26.
“However — despite Kalshi showing this employee that the claims in the video were demonstrably false — Netflix has inexplicably refused to remove the proof from the trailer currently running on the Netflix app’s home page,” the company said.
Netflix doesn’t dispute that the screenshot is a 2025 bet, but a rep told The Hollywood Reporter that none of the documentary footage was fabricated.
“The video was filmed at the Winible World Cup Watch Weekend in Las Vegas on July 17, 2026,” the spokesperson said. “The featured trader with the trade in Spain showed us a screenshot of their bet, which was made in May 2025 prior to any Nevada court ruling. Any specific trades or bets reported during this weekend are between the individual and the app they placed the trades on.”
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