Try not to laugh, but Freddy Krueger is being cancelled after people learned his backstory

Freddy Krueger – yes, the fictional horror character – is getting cancelled on TikTok, and it might be the only recorded instance where cancel culture has gone too far. 

Unless you’re a boomer or regularly read The Sun, the concept of “cancel culture” proboably makes you roll your eyes. It simply doesn’t exist, as evidenced by the “cancelled” celebrities still doing incredibly well, even after their controversies. Some are even the President. 

But now, in a moment that is sure to flare up arthritis in the nation’s gammons, said culture of rampant cancellation has extended to fictional characters. You really can’t make this up. 

Credit: Fortnite

Freddy Krueger’s backstory is why he’s getting cancelled 

Though I wouldn’t say he’s as iconic as other horror figures, Freddy Krueger has long been one of the scariest villains. First dreamt up for 1984’s A Nightmare on Elm Street, Freddy was a child serial killer who was given immortality in the dreamscape. Equipped with a glove of knives, he stalks, kills, and terrorises various teenagers across nine different films. 

In October, Fortnite released a Freddy Krueger skin to celebrate Halloween, and it came with unique abilities. It brought the horror icon in front of more people than ever before, but then people started looking into his backstory. Perhaps unshockingly to people with their heads screwed on, Freddy is not a nice man. 

Though it was only briefly referenced in the original films, the 2010 remake confirmed that Freddy is both a child serial killer and a child predator. People have zeroed in on that fact on social media and are boycotting the villain as a result. Some have even returned to merch and have refused to use the Fortnite skin because of his paedophilic inclinations. Specifically, people have taken issue with his “violent actions” in the films, people dressing as him for halloween, and people saying they enjoy the films. 

how does one even cancel freddy krueger? pic.twitter.com/gAkFoszIla

— 𝕷𝖎𝖆𝖒 𓃵⁩ (@HocusScrotus) October 29, 2026

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“I hope anyone who dresses as Freddy Krueger rots in hell dressing up as a pedo and child murderer is so STUPID. DID THEY EVEN WATCH THE MOVIE?” one person wrote. 

Thankfully, the vast majority of the internet are – and I can’t believe I’m writing this – defending Freddy Krueger. Not his actions, or the themes of paedophilia in the films, but the concept of cancelling a character that doesn’t exist. 

“HE’S A F**KING KILLER!! OBVIOUSLY HE KILLS PEOPLE!!” one person screamed. 

The cancellation/defense of Freddy Kruger on social media is going to be a plot point of the next NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET movie. Mark my words.

— reyna cervantes (@Jfcdoomblade) October 28, 2026

In a world where the masses salivate over Ryan Murphy’s romanticisation of serial killers, the backlash falls flat.  

And I hate to repeat myself, but he’s fictional. Not real. An invention. It’s like trying to cancel Ghostface for killing Drew Barrymore, Michael Myers for stalking Jamie Lee Curtis, or Donald Trump for his handling of the Epstein files. 

Oh wait, that last one’s real. 

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Featured image credit: Warner Bros and New Line Cinema