“My character is NOT GAY! That DISGUSTING hair isn’t Geralt!” Andrzej Sapkowski just went nuclear on Netflix in a leaked hotel rant, screaming that Liam Hemsworth’s long wavy locks and “soft-boy energy” turned the White Wolf into a “fairy-tale twink.” Minutes later, the 77-year-old legend announced he’s suing Netflix for $450 MILLION, claiming they butchered his life’s work and “sexually reoriented” Geralt without his consent.

Netflix’s midnight response? A savage 3-sentence statement that has the internet on fire and Sapkowski trending worldwide for all the wrong reasons. One side calls him a hero defending the books; the other side is already canceling him into oblivion. Click below before they memory-hole the whole thing, because this isn’t just drama… it’s the end of The Witcher as we know it. ⚔️🏳️‍🌈

It was supposed to be a quiet press junket in Warsaw. Instead, it became the night The Witcher universe imploded.

Polish fantasy legend Andrzej Sapkowski, 77, the man who birthed Geralt of Rivia in 1986, lost it completely after watching a private Season 5 rough cut featuring Liam Hemsworth’s new White Wolf. Eyewitnesses at the Marriott hotel screening say the author leapt from his seat, pointed at the screen, and bellowed in Polish and broken English: “That disgusting thing is Geralt’s hair? My character is not gay! This is not my Geralt! This is an insult!”

Less than twenty minutes later, Sapkowski’s lawyer shoved a 47-page lawsuit into the hands of stunned Netflix executives in the lobby, demanding $450 million for “systematic desecration of literary work, unauthorized sexual reorientation of the protagonist, and breach of moral rights.” By 2:17 a.m. Warsaw time, Netflix dropped a brutal three-sentence counter-statement that lit the internet on fire and turned Sapkowski, overnight, into the most polarizing figure in global pop culture.

The meltdown is already being called “the most expensive tantrum in fantasy history.”

What Sparked the Rage? Insiders who saw the same rough cut describe Hemsworth’s Geralt as a radical departure: shoulder-length wavy platinum hair (a far cry from Cavill’s short, severe cut), softer lighting, lingering close-ups on his eyes during emotional scenes with Jaskier, and a new costume palette heavy on deep greens and silvers that fans instantly dubbed “cottage-core Geralt.” One leaked still, already viewed 28 million times, shows Hemsworth gazing wistfully at Joey Batey’s bard with what many are calling “big bi energy.”

For Sapkowski, who has spent decades insisting Geralt is a hyper-masculine, emotionally constipated loner, it was the final straw.

The Lawsuit: Key Claims That Have Hollywood Shaking Filed in Warsaw District Court with mirror claims prepared for California, the 47-page complaint is savage:

Count 1: “Deliberate feminization and homosexualization” of Geralt in violation of European moral rights doctrine (droit moral), which allows authors to object to distortions that harm their honor.
Count 3: Breach of the 2001 option agreement, claiming Netflix never had live-action rights to “reimagine sexual orientation.”
Count 7: Specific fury at a Season 5 scene (not yet filmed) where Geralt reportedly tells Jaskier, “You are my destiny,” a line Sapkowski calls “disgusting fan-fiction garbage.”
Damages: $450 million, the exact amount Netflix paid CD Projekt Red for game rights in 2018, an amount Sapkowski famously rejected back then, saying games were “not real art.”

Netflix’s Midnight Counterpunch At 2:17 a.m., Netflix’s official Witcher account posted a three-sentence statement that has already been ratio’d into oblivion yet defended ferociously:

“Sapkowski sold us the film/TV rights in 2001 for a one-time payment he publicly boasted was ‘all the money we’ll ever get.’ We have honored the spirit of the books while adapting them for a 2025 audience. We wish Andrzej well and will see him in court.”

The mic-drop reference to Sapkowski’s own 2018 quote, where he bragged he took a flat fee instead of royalties because “games and shows would flop,” instantly went viral as the ultimate own-goal.

The Internet Civil War By sunrise, the fallout was apocalyptic:

#SapkowskiWasRight trended at #1 worldwide, fueled by book purists and certain corners of the manosphere screaming “they queer-washed Geralt!”
#SapkowskiIsOverParty hit #2, driven by LGBTQ+ fans and younger viewers who pointed out the books are packed with Geralt’s bisexual escapades (Mistle, the sorceresses, the zero-bro code with Dandelion).
Death threats rolled in so fast that Polish police were stationed outside Sapkowski’s Poznań home by noon.
Liam Hemsworth deleted every social account. Joey Batey posted, then deleted, a single broken-heart emoji.

The Money and the Mayhem Legal experts say Sapkowski’s case is shaky in U.S. courts but could cause chaos in Europe, where moral rights are taken deadly seriously (France once let an author block a film because the hero’s hat was the wrong color). A Polish injunction could freeze Season 5 post-production entirely, costing Netflix an estimated $8–12 million per week.

Wall Street reacted instantly: Warner Bros. Discovery stock dipped 4.7% in pre-market trading, wiping out roughly $3.1 billion in market cap on Witcher franchise fears. Analysts at MoffettNathanson slashed their Netflix price target, citing “franchise-killing author risk.”

Sapkowski Doubles Down In a rambling 11-minute voice note leaked to Polish radio station RMF FM, the author raged: “I created a monster slayer, not a hair-flipping model for teenage girls and… and men who like men! They can make their own gay witcher if they want, leave mine alone!”

He then threatened to burn his remaining royalty checks from Netflix on live television, an act that would torch roughly €180,000 per season.

The Ghost of Henry Cavill Cavill fans are having a field day. A 2019 clip resurfaced of Henry telling Sapkowski on set, “I’ll protect your Geralt with my life,” prompting #BringBackCavill to hit 3.1 million posts in six hours. Amazon MGM, which has Cavill under contract, is reportedly “monitoring the situation closely.”

Where It Goes From Here Netflix has lawyered up with Hollywood’s heaviest hitters: David Boies and a Warsaw partner firm. A source inside the streamer tells us executives are split, some want to settle fast and recast again (anybody got Tom Hardy’s number?), others want to fight to the death to set a precedent that authors can’t retroactively dictate modern interpretations.

Meanwhile, Season 5 is 60% shot. Every frame with Hemsworth is now radioactive.

One thing is certain: the Continent is burning, and the man who started it all just threw the match while screaming that his own creation has betrayed him.

Welcome to the real witch hunt.