'The Show Is Authentic & Honest': Netflix Responds To Byron Bay Series Backlash

Netflix has responded to the backlash against forthcoming reality TV series, Byron Baes, saying the show will be "authentic and honest".

The series - which has been described as a "docu-soap series following a 'feed' of hot Instagrammers living their best lives" - was announced earlier this month and has been slammed by locals, with a protest going ahead yesterday and a petition calling for it to be axed that has garnered almost 9,000 signatures in a week.

Parkway Drive drummer Ben Gordon, who was one of the many who turned out at Tuesday's protest, took aim at Byron Baes earlier this week calling it "the most tacky and cheap thing you’ve ever seen".

In a statement given to The Music, Director of Content for Netflix ANZ, Que Minh Luu, responded to the criticism.

"Byron Baes will aim to build a connection between the people we meet in the show, and ourselves as the audience," Luu said.

"The show is authentic and honest, and while it carries all the classic hallmarks of the form and embraces the drama, heartbreak and conflict that makes for such entertaining viewing, our goal is to lift the curtain on influencer culture to understand the motivation, the desire, and the pain behind this very human need to be loved.

"The reason behind choosing Byron Bay as a location was driven by the area’s unique attributes as a melting pot of entrepreneurialism, lifestyle and health practices, and the sometimes uneasy coming together of the traditional 'old Byron' and the alternative 'new', all of which we'll address in the series."

It's understood that a large number of production crew and staff on the series will be Northern Rivers locals, while Byron Bay vendors will also provide transport, location hire, catering and accommodation.