Netflix has canceled Friday’s premiere of the second season of 13 Reasons Why in Los Angeles following a school shooting in Santa Fe, Texas.
The storyline of season two of the drama focuses in part on a plot dealing with a thwarted school shooting.
“Our hearts are with the victims of the Santa Fe High School shooting, and with all victims of gun violence. In light of today’s tragedy, we are canceling the 13 Reasons Why S2 premiere event tonight,” Netflix said in a statement.
The first season of the show set up a few threads that dealt with gun violence: At the end of the season, viewers learned that Alex (Miles Heizer) shot himself and was rushed to the hospital; season two will deal with the aftermath of that storyline. The first season also found Tyler (Devin Druid), a bullied high schooler, accumulating an arsenal of weapons in his room.
Netflix’s decision regarding the second season’s premiere comes after the first season of the Netflix series weathered some backlash over the graphic depiction of Hannah Baker’s (Katherine Langford) suicide. For the second season, which deals with the aftermath of the events of season one as well as sexual assault and gun violence, the streamer has created a series of PSAs and resources with support information.
“There was a tremendous amount of conversation in the culture around the show. Obviously as humans in the culture we were aware of the conversation,” showrunner Brian Yorkey told The Hollywood Reporter recently. “We listened to it, all different sides, all different points of view on the story and on season one.”
Two suspects are in custody after at least one gunman opened fire at a high school in Sante Fe and killed eight to 10 people, mostly students, on Friday. It was the deadliest school shooting since a gunman killed 17 at a U.S. school in Parkland, Florida, in February.
