The New Rules For Getting Canceled

Woke 1.0 might be over, but cancel culture never left. Over the past few weeks, we have watched a Michigan credit union CEO lose her job after posting a family photo with AI-generated “Lake America” sweatshirts. We saw the Portland Trail Blazers hire 29-year-old Braiden Bell as their new play-by-play broadcaster — and fire him just hours later after “offensive” tweets he wrote as a teenager resurfaced. 

Then came Kelly Carnes, the executive director of the Baltimore Rock Opera Society, who was fired after backlash over wearing cornrows at Burning Man. Meanwhile, a Pittsburgh LGBTQ bar canceled its next event after a drag performer was accused of blackface. The bar received such serious death threats that the venue said it was no longer safe to continue.