You’d think every star in the Hollywood galaxy would be lining up against Cancel Culture.
After all, the noxious trend inhibits creativity, demands total allegiance and treats forgiveness like an incurable rash. Plus, stars behave badly like the rest of us do.
Sometimes a tad worse.
Yet for every Ricky Gervais or Dave Chappelle there are others who, on the surface, salute Cancel Culture in all its insidious forms. These stars may have ulterior motives for their positions. Taken at face value, they have no problem with their peers being canceled for reasons both understandable and absurd.
Katt Williams
The veteran comic has a rap sheet that suggests he could be Canceled at any moment. Williams shouted racially charged insults at a Mexican heckler in 2011, and got charged with assault following a 2018 airport incident. He’s been arrested at least a dozen times over the years, from throwing a salt shaker at someone to shoplifting and verbal threats.
Now, Williams insists that Cancel Culture doesn’t actually exist. What does, he argues, is holding people responsible for their actions.
“Some of these things are for the benefit of everything,” Williams responded. “Nobody likes the speed limit, but it’s necessary. Nobody likes the shoulder of the road, but it’s there for a reason. My point is, [people] weren’t all that extremely funny back when they could say whatever they wanted to say.”
He also says of the people being canceled… good riddance.
“I don’t know what people got canceled that we wish we had back. Who are they? It’s done for the reasons it’s done for and it helped who it helped …If all that’s going to happen is that we have to be more sensitive in the way that we talk, isn’t that what we want anyway? I’m saying, your job as a comedian is to please the most amount of people with your art. Don’t call somebody this word when you know it affects all of these people.”
Seth Rogen
The “Knocked Up” alum became a star via bro-tastic comedies where the men-children used up all of their white privilege, to steal the far-Left’s vernacular.
Think “Superbad,” “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” and “Pineapple Express.”
Now, he’s ready to apology for his unwoke jokes and make movies where the progressivism laps the laughs. His 2019 dud “Long Shot” proved the latter all too well.
Rogen also spends interview time regretting the laughter that lined his pockets for the past decade. He all but slaps Cancel Culture on the back and asks if he can buy it a drink.
Sound harsh? Consider what Rogen told an interviewer recently while promoting his new tome, “Yearbook.” Sounds like he has no beef with maligning his own material. Call it the woke version of, “kill your darlings.”
“There are certain jokes that for sure have not aged well, but I think that’s the nature of comedy… I think conceptually those movies are sound and I think there’s a reason they’ve lasted as far as people still watching and enjoying them today. Jokes are not things that necessarily are built to last.”
He also resents comedians complaining about Cancel Culture.
“To me when I see comedians complaining about this kind of thing, I don’t understand what they’re complaining about. If you’ve made a joke that’s aged terribly, accept it. And if you don’t think it’s aged terribly, then say that.”
Is he kissing up to the woke mob, knowing they might “resurface” one of his “problematic” jokes next? Only Rogen knows for sure.
Tina Fey
The “30 Rock” alum fought back against an early version of Cancel Culture after woke scolds said her “Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” show dabbled in culturally insensitive storytelling. One example? Caucasian co-star Jane Krakowski played a character on the Netflix comedy who learns she is part Native American, sparking an effort to connect with her heritage.
Fey’s response?
“My new goal is to not explain jokes,” Fey said before theoretically dropping the mic. Even a Native-American actor on the show, Gil Birmingham, dismissed the criticism outright.
That was in 2015. Now, months after blackface episodes of her signature “30 Rock” show got erased Fey is singing a far different tune.
“Everyone’s figuring out what the new rules of comedy are. They definitely have changed for the better. Trope and joke structures that were based around othering people or minimizing people, good comedy writers are challenging themselves to walk away from that.”
Levar Burton
The “Reading Rainbow” alum flirted with becoming the new “Jeopardy” host following Alex Trebek’s death at the age of 81. It could still, in theory, happen following his guest hosting gig.
That flurry of press allowed him to weigh in on a number of issues, including Cancel Culture.
“The View’s” Meghan McCain pressed Burton on the subject, given the recent cancellation of beloved author Dr. Seuss and the star’s “Reading” fame.
First, Burton downplayed how Seuss, Inc. removed six books from his collection after a likely small number of complaints of racially charged imagery emerged.
Next, the actor defended Cancel Culture, saying it’s an inappropriate name for what it actually does.
“I think we have a consequence culture, and that consequences are finally encompassing everybody in this society, whereas they haven’t been ever in this country.”
Jameela Jamil
The actress best known for her work on “The Good Place” is one of the industry’s wokest stars. So it’s no shock to hear her defend Cancel Culture … to a point.
Her take on the trend is more nuanced than expected, though. She’s mostly fed up with her fellow stars who think being critiqued is the same as being expunged from the industry.
“We need to separate what’s been canceled and what’s being called out. Celebrities are such snowflakes. They don’t know how to take criticism, because they’ve never been criticized before. So when they’ve just been called out, they’ll cry cancel culture, but that’s not very helpful because it muddies the waters to what cancellation is. Cancellation means being de-platformed, having your rights taken away, your job taken away, your finances being harmed. That mostly happens to civilians, not celebrities. I got canceled 45 times in February. All of my shows got recommissioned, I landed a huge campaign, and my book deal remains. I’m [expletive] fine.”
It’s worth noting her hard-left positions inoculate her against some, not all, of the woke mob. In other words, she might have a change of heart should she eventually share the “wrong” opinion someday.
The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.