How Joe Keery’s Lavish ‘Stranger Things’ Fortune Bankrolls His Self-Indulgent Djo Vanity Project

“Being independent is something I valued big time. I never wanted any money up front.”
Photo: Fabien Kruszelnicki

NETFLIX’S COWARDLY FINALE PROVES HOLLYWOOD HAS GONE SOFT. In a SHOCKING betrayal of narrative stakes, EVERY major character in the global phenomenon ‘Stranger Things’ was handed a SAFE, saccharine ending—exposing a culture terrified of upsetting its audience. While actors like Joe Keery casually admit “I didn’t think anybody was going to die,” critics are BLOWING THE WHISTLE on an industry that now prioritizes brand management over artistic integrity. This isn’t storytelling; it’s a CALCULATED CORPORATE DECISION to protect future spinoffs and merchandise deals.

But the REAL scandal is what happened next. Riding the coattails of this sanitized finale, Keery’s years-old song “End of Beginning” EXPLODED to #1 globally, DETHRONING titans like Taylor Swift. This is NOT a tale of musical genius—it’s a DAMNING case study in the HYPER-SYNTHETIC nature of modern fame. The algorithm, fueled by final-episode hype and nostalgic TikTok trends, PROPELED a track into the “2 Billion Streams Club” overnight. Keery ADMITS the show’s end “definitely” drove the surge, revealing a hollow truth: VIRALITY IS NOW MANUFACTURED BY CORPORATE MACHINES, not organic talent.

The most DISTURBING reveal? Keery’s “indie” success was BANKROLLED by his Netflix millions from the start. He leveraged a PRIVILEGED salary to buy his artistic freedom, then used the show’s cultural funeral to launch his music to stratospheric heights. This is the NEW HOLLYWOOD BLUEPRINT: use a safe, mass-appeal product to fund “authentic” side projects, creating an ILLUSION of grassroots success while the corporate engine does all the work. We are witnessing the DEATH OF RISK and the BIRTH of a sanitized, self-perpetuating celebrity industrial complex. If even our monsters have happy endings, what soul is left to consume?