The Falsehood of Cancel Culture
CW: sexual assault
Despite popular belief, cancel culture isn’t real. It’s a shield used by anyone who feels threatened by the idea of accountability.
The concept of “canceling” stems from a misogynistic joke (Romano, 2019). In the 1991 film New Jack City, Wesley Snipes’ character Nino Brown dumps his girlfriend (because she’s upset with all of the violence he’s causing) by saying, “Cancel that bitch. I’ll buy another one” (Peebles, 1991). Years later, in 2009, Lil Wayne referenced the film in his song “I’m Single,” rapping, “Yeah I’m singing / n***a had to cancel that bitch like Nino.”
It wasn’t until an episode of Love and Hip-Hop: New York in 2014 that “canceling” became a public phenomenon, when Cisco Rosado told his love interest Diamond Strawberry, “You’re canceled” (Love & Hip Hop, 2015). Specifically, the idea of canceling as a reaction to someone doing something you disapprove of (jokingly or seriously) spread throughout Black Twitter (Romano, 2019). From there, the term evolved into a way of boycotting public figures because of their problematic behavior.
There are those who have been effectively canceled, in that their problematic behavior has resulted in major consequences, even ending their careers. Think Kevin Spacey and Harvey Weinstein.
But there are also many, many celebrities who have quickly returned to the spotlight post-“cancellation,” and those who never stepped away. Think J.K. Rowling, Rex Orange County, Woody Allen, Chrissy Teigen, Kanye West, Chris Brown… the list goes on and on.
Since 2020, I haven’t seen many people cancel someone (i.e., saying “you’re canceled”). The only people I see using the terminology “cancel culture” are either those who have fallen “victim” to cancel culture (i.e., public figures who are being called out for their problematic behavior) or those defending them.
In the past few years, author J.K. Rowling has published numerous Tweets deemed transphobic by the public (Hamilton, 2023). Rowling addressed the backlash she faced in an episode of her podcast, The Witch Trials of J.K. Rowling, “Look, I’ve heard this all the time. ‘We’re holding you accountable. We’re holding you accountable’… ‘This person is canceled.’ That is the language of a dictator.”
After an influx of sexual assault allegations against comedian Russell Brand, multiple brands, including Burger King and ASOS, have removed their ads from Rumble, an online video platform on which Brand has almost 1.6 million followers (Notheis, 2023). In response, Rumble issued a statement, claiming that it would not prevent Brand from posting on the platform or profiting off of his content. Rumble stated, “Although it may be politically and socially easier for Rumble to join a cancel culture mob, doing so would be a violation of our company's values and mission.”
Beauty influencer James Charles has been in multiple “scandals,” involving the grooming of and inappropriate communications with minors (Bluestone, 2023). In February 2021, Charles was accused of sending explicit photographs and messages to a then-16-year-old fan. Since then, at least 15 others have come out with similar accusations against Charles. Although Charles has publicly admitted to some of these claims, he has not faced any serious consequences. In July 2023, Cosmopolitan released a feature on Charles entitled, James Charles Would Like to Be Un-Canceled, Please. The piece begins with a quote from James, “I had to do a lot of thinking. Like, Okay, babe, this is your fault. No, you’re not a pedophile. No, you’re not a fucking groomer. No, you’re not a predator. But you made a big mistake.” Overall, the author downplays the severity of the allegations against Charles, summing them up to be “the murky nature of cancel culture.”
Were these individuals canceled or just, I don’t know, held accountable?
Merriam-Webster (n.d.) defines cancel as, “to withdraw one's support for (someone, such as a celebrity, or something, such as a company) publicly and especially on social media.” While there is truth to that idea, I would argue that when someone is seemingly canceled, there is more to it than the public withdrawing their support. Sure, some people just hit “unfollow” or leave a comment expressing their disappointment, but the majority want more.
If a regular person can be arrested for sexual assault, why shouldn’t a celebrity? If a regular person can be scolded for using offensive language, why shouldn’t a celebrity? Fame does not take away from the level of responsibility expected to be a just person.
Hire Survivors Hollywood, an organization working to end retaliation against survivors of sexual violence in the entertainment industry, has been particularly vocal about the subject of cancel culture. Founder and President Sarah Ann Masse defines cancel culture as “some sort of invented rhetorical device to distract from the actual issue of harm being caused by abusive people.”
Similar to the act of victim-blaming, cancel culture places a heavy, negative weight on survivors. Survivors are not only physically, mentally, and emotionally harmed, but they’re often the ones losing access to jobs and income. In Masse’s words, “Where’s the support system for them? Where’s the outrage about these people losing their income, losing their work opportunities, losing access to the industry they work in? Why isn’t that the lens through which we look at this?”
Masse compared cancel culture to the concept of himpathy, “a cultural response to badly behaved men, where the instinct is almost to feel sorry for them rather than to hold them accountable and feel sorry for the people they’ve harmed.”
In 2016, Brock Turner, a former swimmer at Stanford University, sexually assaulted an unconscious woman outside of a fraternity party (Suk, 2023). While many were disturbed by the horrific, inhumane crime that Turner committed, others, including the judge in Turner’s case, felt sorry for him. Although Turner, convicted on three counts of felony sexual assault, could face up to fourteen years in prison, Santa Clara County Superior Court judge, Aaron Persky, sentenced Turner to six months in jail, three years of probation, and sex-offender registration, claiming that a longer prison term “would have a severe impact on him.” I mean, he was just starting off in his swimming career, right?
According to Masse, cancel culture stems from one thing: fear. She believes that part of that fear is not fully understanding the context of the whole situation, viewing the assault from a narrow, possibly biased, lens. Another part is fans “wanting access to their favorite artists and not wanting to have to question what their own admiration of them may mean” (i.e., the ‘separating art from the artist’ debate). Lastly, Masse explains that “all people have done something in their lives that they’re not proud of or has caused harm,… but there’s this sense that if somebody else is being held accountable for something, what does that mean for me? Am I going to be held accountable for my poor decisions? Am I going to be held accountable for my abusive actions?”
The truth is, whether you choose to accept it, actions have consequences. Masse describes it perfectly, “If you have chosen to be a sexual abuser, one of the consequences might be that you don’t get as much support from the public anymore.”
In acknowledging that actions have consequences comes accountability, not cancellation. To Masse, accountability means “actually being honest about what has happened, who is responsible, and for that person to take full responsibility and accountability for the harm that they’ve caused. Make a genuine apology. Do actual restorative and reparative work to help the individuals and community that you have harmed. Acknowledge that actions have consequences.”
So how do we hold public figures accountable for sexual violence? Masse’s answer—“having an expectation that a notes memo non-apology is not enough.”
“That can be significant donations to a charity,” Masse explains. “That can be taking financial responsibility for the destruction that you have perpetrated in individual people’s lives. That can be stepping away, not stepping away for a year and pretending nothing happened and returning to your career again, but actually stepping away and doing actual work to figure out what is happening with you that makes you think it’s okay to continue abusing people. It has to be big picture. It has to be public acknowledgment of the harm you’ve caused and at the risk of even facing legal action, at the risk of facing financial difficulties.”
Masse acknowledges that there may always be people who publicly support abusers. And while that may be the case, she wants to shift the focus to, How do we support the people who have been harmed? Masse states, “If an abuser continues to work and make money, that’s incredibly frustrating and incredibly invalidating to the survivors, but if there was equal support for the people who have been harmed, and they were able to thrive, … it would matter less that these abusers are continuing to get support, because survivors would be getting the support they deserve.”
There are tangible ways to support survivors, in the public eye or not. Educate yourself on sexual violence. Help spread awareness. Advocate for the survivors in your life—in the workplace, on college campuses, and beyond. Donate to charities, non-profit organizations, or campaigns supporting survivors who have been shoved out of the industry. Uplift survivors’ voices and stories. The list goes on and on.
Hire Survivors Hollywood offers multiple tangible ways to support survivors in the entertainment industry, such as becoming a member of their talent database, donating, utilizing their free toolkits, and taking their pledge to build a safer, more equitable industry.
Accountability is accomplishable, but it involves a push from all of us. In Masse’s words, “What we have to start doing is stopping people from causing harm, not expecting the people being harmed to prevent it.”
Thank you to Sarah Ann Masse for being a part of this piece. Your voice is powerful, your passion is admirable, and your advocacy is monumental for survivors in the entertainment industry.
To learn more about Hire Survivors Hollywood, visit their website or follow them on social media. All donations are tax-deductible and will help Hire Survivors Hollywood “end retaliation against survivors and transform the entertainment industry to be safer and more equitable for all.” Survivors working in the entertainment industry can become a member of their talent database and anyone can download their free toolkit and take the Hire Survivors Hollywood pledge.
Sources:
Bluestone, G. (2023, July 13). James Charles Would Like to Be Un-Canceled, Please. Cosmopolitan.
Cancel Definition & Meaning. (n.d.). Merriam-Webster.
Hamilton, H. (2023, March 16). JK Rowling: Cancel culture is 'the language of a dictator'. Washington Examiner.
Lil Wayne. (2009). I’m Single [Song]. On No Ceilings. Young Money; Cash Money; Universal Motown.
Love & Hip Hop. (2015, January 16). Baby Diamond & More Erica Cyn Headaches | Check Yourself S5 E2 | Love & Hip Hop: New York [Video]. YouTube.
Notheis, A. (2023, September 24). Burger King pulls ads as Rumble holds firm against Russell Brand 'cancel culture mob'. Washington Examiner.
Peebles, M. V. (Director). (1991). New Jack City [Film]. The Jackson/McHenry Company; Jacmac Folms; Warner Bros.
Romano, A. (2019, December 30). What is cancel culture? Why we keep fighting about canceling people. Vox.
Suk, J. (2023, March 29). Revisiting the Brock Turner Case. The New Yorker.
