Peacock Adds Warning to ‘Queer as Folk’ After Texas Shooting (Exclusive)

Streamer Peacock is adding a warning card to its upcoming “reimagining” of Queer as Folk following the horrific school shooting last week in Texas.

The series, which puts a 2022 spin on creator Russell T Davies’ groundbreaking original, is built around a shooting at the show’s nightclub, Babylon, and follows how the New Orleans LGBTQ community rebuilds itself.

Here’s the warning that will be added to Queer as Folk when the full season premieres June 9: “Queer as Folk is a fictional series about the vibrant LGBTQ community in New Orleans rebuilding after a devastating tragedy. Some viewers may find elements of the first episode distressing as it depicts the aftermath of a shooting. Our hearts go out to all of those affected by these senseless tragedies.”

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It’s worth noting that creator Stephen Dunn worked with a number of survivors from the Pulse nightclub shooting in crafting Peacock’s Queer as Folk. A number of them also served as consultants on the series.

The addition of the warning comes after the May 24 school shooting in Uvalde, Texas, in which 19 children and two teachers were killed.

In creating Queer as Folk, Dunn pitched the idea of a shooting at a gay bar to Davies. The pitch helped Dunn secure the rights to Queer as Folk. (It’s worth noting that Showtime’s U.S. incarnation also featured a bombing of its Babylon in its final season.) “Pulse is a specific event that targeted the Latinx community in Orlando. Our show is completely fictional, but the trajectory of our story is inspired by the realities of what that was like — not just that night, but the aftermath and the way that the community of Orlando rebuilt in the wake of that tragedy,” Dunn told The Hollywood Reporter in a May 11 interview. “What you’ll see in Queer as Folk is the honest truth of what it is like to go through something like that and how it’s not this saintly victim tragedy story. These are real people and they’re not victims. They survived a tragedy, and they are human beings whose lives were completely turned upside down after this.”

Netflix also added similar a warning to the first part of Stranger Things season four following the tragedy in Texas. The season four premiere features graphic violence involving children.

Here’s the official description of Queer as Folk: “a vibrant reimagining of the British series that will explore a diverse group of friends in New Orleans whose lives are transformed in the aftermath of a tragedy.”

Watch the trailer, below.