Why was Dead End: Paranormal Park cancelled? Elon Musk cancels Netflix subscription over airing cartoon allegedly promoting transgender ideology in kids

Dead End: Paranormal Park is under fire on Social media more than two years after its cancellation. 

Netflix canceled the animated fantasy horror comedy series after two seasons. Hamish Steele, the creator of Dead End: Paranormal Park, announced the discontinuation of the show on X (formerly Twitter) in January 2023. In a heartfelt statement addressing the series’ audience, the showrunner revealed: 

“It's with a heavy heart that I tell you Dead End is over.” 

Steele mentioned the ongoing work on the third season before Netflix cancelled Dead End: Paranormal Park: 

“Obviously, we never wanted this to be the case. In fact, we did a writers room for Season 3. We have scripts and designs and outlines ready to go. It was always the plan to give these characters the proper ending they deserve. But sadly, the powers that be don't want any more.” 

Hamish Steele shared his gratitude towards “Netflix for commissioning the show” and giving the creators “the freedom to tell this story.” He wrote about being proud of the collective efforts of the crew that worked on the show. Steele also acknowledged the fans for their support and announced working on the “third and final Dead Endia book” to provide some closure. 

Netflix did not confirm a specific reason behind the cancellation, but some outlets speculated that budget considerations and viewership were probable factors. AWN (Animation World Network) labeled the streaming giant’s decision as a “cost-cutting move.”

At the same time, What’s on Netflix reported that Dead End: Paranormal Park, despite critical acclaim, spent 10 days in the US kids’ top 10s, but couldn’t enter the overall TV top 10s. 

Dead End: Paranormal Park did not receive any pushback from Netflix for LGBTQ+ representation, the creator revealed in 2020

Hamish Steele, the author of the DeadEndia graphic novel series, pitched his animated show to the streaming giant in 2019, as per his guest essay for Gizmodo in 2023. When the show was released, it reportedly received backlash from Republicans for its representation of LGBTQ+ people through characters, but Netflix didn’t confirm it as a reason behind the cancellation. 

Hamish Steele also discussed his pitch and the show’s representation in 2020. In an interview with The Mary Sue, the showrunner was asked about whether it got easier to pitch LGBTQ characters after Dead End’s (a cartoon short) release. Steele remarked: 

“In my experience, absolutely. I am incredibly grateful to the showrunners who’ve come before me for fighting those painful battles. I have fought them too, although this is the first time successfully.” 

Hamish further said: 

“There’s been absolutely no pushback from Netflix about representation. I think it was actually a key reason they wanted it.” 

However, after the show started streaming on Netflix, five Republican US senators penned an open letter to the TV Parental Guidelines Monitoring Board, demanding a change in ratings. A similar controversy emerged recently, after Elon Musk and many conservative users attacked Netflix over Steele’s show. 

Elon Musk claims to have cancelled his Netflix subscription over Dead End: Paranormal Park 

Cancel Netflix for the health of your kids https://t.co/uPcGiURaCp

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 1, 2025

Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) posted a clip from Hamish Steele's animated series to call out Netflix over alleged promotion of transgender ideology in children. Elon Musk quoted the tweet and wrote: 

“This is not ok” 

In response to another tweet from @libsoftiktok criticizing Steele, Musk called him a groomer. Later, the SpaceX founder and CEO reposted an X post from Matt Van Swoll, in which the latter mentioned cancelling his Netflix subscription. The user highlighted Steele’s controversial comments targeting Charlie Kirk as the reason behind their decision. 

Musk also announced that he was canceling his Netflix subscription for the very reason, tweeting, “Same.” In another X post, he encouraged the others to do the same by commenting: 

“Cancel Netflix for the health of your kids” 

Hamish Steele also reacted to Musk's tweets on Bluesky, calling the trend “lies and slander,” and claimed that Netflix is not promoting his show. He wrote in another post: 

“It is genuinely funny that Elon Musk has now seen a clip from Dead End. He's on the list with people I know for a fact have watched it along with Ben Shapiro and Eric Adams.” 

He called out the haters for trying to deplatform his show by using AI. Hamish Steele also posted about receiving problematic emails and hateful comments, while denying the accusations that he celebrated Charlie Kirk’s death.