Fact Check: Did Netflix show creator Hamish Steele celebrate Charlie Kirk’s death?

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Netflix found itself courting controversy after one of its shows' creators, Hamish Steele, was accused of mocking conservative activist Charlie Kirk’s murder.

What followed was a major backlash on social media and a boycott call from billionaire Elon Musk.

Context of the claim

It all started when X owner Elon Musk said he’d canceled his Netflix subscription after reading about Steele, the creator behind 'Dead End: Paranormal Park'. According to screenshots, Steele supposedly used profanities and branded Kirk a “Nazi” after his death.

Hamish Steele’s show was already a lightning rod for controversy thanks to its transgender themes. But this one went nuclear when screenshots began making the rounds online, appearing to show Steele firing off at UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer.

Starmer had posted condolences for Kirk’s family while stressing “there can be no justification for political violence.” Steele allegedly clapped back by writing, “Why the f**k are you even commenting on this, d**khead?”

Steele purportedly added, “You sympathy for any of the families being slaughtered by your weapons but a random nazi gets shot and its a public statement. You’re such a f*****g evil s**t.”

Fact Check: Unclear

MEAWW has not been able to verify whether those comments actually came from Steele. His X account is now private, so any reputable outlets couldn’t independently confirm the authenticity of the posts, including Forbes.

Libs of TikTok piled on to the criticism, blasting Steele while accusing Netflix of “pushing pro-transgender” ideology on kids.

Musk replied to that post, “This is not OK.”

In another exchange, Musk replied "Same" after a user told him they canceled Netflix. “Cancel Netflix for the health of your kids," he added.

Steele responds

Steele didn’t stay silent. According to The Sun, he pushed back on the claims and insisted he never celebrated Kirk’s death.

On Tuesday, he shared a screenshot of Musk’s first reply and admitted, “It’s probably going to be a very odd day.”

When Libs of TikTok claimed Netflix was promoting his show, Steele commented, “It’s all lies and slander! Netflix is NOT promoting at the moment!”

Despite the backlash, Steele said he was “mostly very ok today and found it all quite funny.” But he also revealed he’d received “extremely nasty homophobic and antisemitic emails” that were “getting a little scary.”

The creator later went quiet, admitting things were spiraling. “I will just say today is much worse, and I am going to basically be on the down low for the foreseeable future. My apologies," he said, adding that his replies were swamped with people posting “I AM CHARLIE KIRK.”

Tragic death of Charlie Kirk

On September 10, conservative commentator Charlie Kirk was gunned down while speaking at Utah Valley University. He was shot in the neck before being rushed to the hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery, but he didn’t make it.

Police say the alleged shooter, 22-year-old Tyler Robinson, turned himself in two days later at his local sheriff’s office in southwest Utah. Prosecutors have charged him with aggravated murder and confirmed they will seek the death penalty. Robinson hid his face during his first court appearance on Monday, and is expected back in court on October 30.