Disney+ Cancels Comedy-Drama ‘Diary of a Future President’ After Two Seasons

Selenis Leyva and Tess Romero in Diary of a Future President
Tony Rivetti / ©Disney+ / courtesy Everett Collection

Elena Cañero-Reed’s term in office is over as Disney+ has decided not to renew Diary of a Future President for a third season.

The show’s creator, Ilana Peña, confirmed the news on Monday, tweeting, “We found out that #diaryofafuturepresident is not moving forward with a season 3 at Disney+. Of course, we would love to continue telling this story, but I am filled with so much gratitude for the 2 seasons that we did get to make.”

Diary stars Tess Romero as the aforementioned Elena, a confident and determined 13-year-old Cuban American girl who dreams of becoming a future president of the United States. The series centers on Elena at middle school but also uses flashforwards, with Gina Rodriguez (who also serves as exec producer) portraying Future Elena, who is now the serving U.S. president.

The series also stars Selenis Leyva (Orange Is The New Black) as Gabriela “Gabi” Cañero-Reed, Elena’s widowed mother who works as a lawyer; Charlie Bushnell as Roberto “Bobby” Cañero-Reed, Elena’s frustrating older brother who is coming to terms with his sexuality; and Michael Weaver (Here and Now) as Sam Faber, a lawyer at Gabi’s firm who she becomes close to.

Leyva took to Instagram Live on Monday to share her thoughts on the cancelation. “This post is about me sharing the frustration I feel as a woman of color; seeing a show like this not continue goes well past me just being a cast member,” she said. “It is about black, brown, queer young people seeing themselves in a positive light.”

 

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In her Twitter statement, Peña wrote, “There’s so much I want to say about how this experience changed me, but Elena would say it better. She said all of it better. I made this show for my younger self, and I hope I made her proud.”

Peña previously worked as a staff writer on Rachel Bloom and Aline Brosh McKenna’s CW comedy series Crazy Ex-Girlfriend. Diary included a reference to Peña’s past work when Bloom appeared in a guest role as Ms. Wexler, an English teacher who catches Elena shopping in a lingerie store.

Diary of a Future President, Seasons 1 and 2, Streaming, Disney+