Armie Hammer is back. So are Kevin Spacey, Dustin Hoffman, Jonathan Majors, Louis C.K., Brett Ratner, and other canceled stars.
Cancel Culture, which tore through Hollywood over the last decade, is losing its grip. No longer do comedians fear that an old stand-up routine might “resurface” and crush their careers.
Artists with troubling pasts can work again, allowing audiences to judge whether they’re worthy of forgiveness.
That’s great news, but a strain of Cancel Culture remains very much in place. It’s purely ideological in nature, and it’s supported by mainstream media outlets, Hollywood, Inc., and the culture at large.
Embrace MAGA, President Donald Trump, or simply the Right, and watch it snap into action.
For some stars, being apolitical is seen as an unofficial conservative pose and, sadly, worthy of condemnation. Sydney Sweeney has faced media scrutiny for not formally embracing a political party. That intensified after press outlets learned she had <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2025/aug/03/sydney-sweeney-jeans-ad-republican-voter-registration">registered</a> as a Republican in Florida but refused to share her ideological beliefs.
That media focus intensified after her far-Left critics complained her American Eagle jeans ad, where she playfully said she had good &#8220;jeans,&#8221; was seen as a white supremacist dog whistle. <a href="https://www.facebook.com/TheMaineWire/videos/good-morning-america-actually-ran-a-segment-comparing-sydney-sweeneys-ad-campaig/783248864052637/">Media outlets</a> ran with the absurd attacks.
Another tiny example happened recently with the opening of the Great American State Fair. Singer Leonard Cohen’s estate <a href="https://variety.com/2026/music/news/leonard-cohen-estate-objects-trump-hallelujah-freedom-250-1236789752/">decried the potential use of the late singer’s “Hallelujah.”</a>
This particular event highlighted the enduring Cancel Culture movement.
The Great American State Fair originally hired a gaggle of fading music stars, including Bret Michaels, Young MC, and Vanilla Ice, to entertain the crowd. The media played up the event’s loose connection to Team Trump – the administration tasked with creating the event to honor the nation’s 250th birthday.
The assembled artists <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/bill-maher-rips-artists-for-pulling-out-of-america-250-concerts">quickly fled the gala</a>, either suggesting the concert would be too political in nature (without evidence) or that they’ve been threatened with violence for appearing (<a href="https://variety.com/2026/music/news/bret-michaels-exits-freedom-250-concerts-washington-trump-1236761992/">Michaels</a>).
Comedian Bill Maher called foul on the artists’ decision.
<blockquote>
Wouldn’t it have been better to play this gig? … It’s a month-long gig, lots of people, like — just celebrating America. Can’t we all just celebrate America itself and leave Trump out of it?
</blockquote>
That misses the point.
The musicians want to keep performing, and they know that being associated with any event tied to President Trump might hurt their careers. Said careers weren’t exactly thriving to begin with, putting even more pressure on them to conform.
Yet roughly the same time, we saw a group of high-profile musicians, including U2’s Bono and The Edge, and Bruce Springsteen, <a href="https://abcnews.com/Politics/wireStory/springsteen-bono-stevie-obamas-open-presidential-museum-133989191">perform at President Barack Obama’s presidential museum opening.</a>
They didn’t fear professional pushback (nor should they). This wasn’t a patriotic event to honor a national holiday. The opening celebrated the most prominent Democrat in the nation, and in doing so, the musicians didn’t face violent threats or attacks on their professional future.
That’s as it should be. Yet there’s an extreme double standard in play. Just ask British singer M.I.A.
She joined Kid Cudi’s Rebel Ragers tour earlier this year as an opening act, but she quickly lost the gig for saying the “wrong” thing on stage.
She shared <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/music/2026/may/04/kid-cudi-fires-mia-tour-republican-rant">Right-leaning opinions</a>, and in a New York minute, she was gone. The singer later filed a <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/m-sues-kid-cudi-dropped-tour-says-was-fired-publicity-poor-ticket-sale-rcna347845">multi-million dollar lawsuit against Kid Cudi.</a>
The media reported the lawsuit but didn’t share any outrage over the singer’s free speech rights or the potential of wrongful termination. Nor did reporters note the irony of Springsteen creating an entire tour to spread his far-Left views while M.I.A. lost her job for sharing a fraction (of a fraction) of that political commentary.
Perhaps the best example of the media trying to cancel a superstar for aligning with MAGA came courtesy of Nate Bargatze. He’s the most successful comedian of the moment, a squeaky-clean stand-up who sells out arenas and never discusses politics on or off stage.
Bargatze attended the recent White House/UFC extravaganza, an event meant to honor the nation’s upcoming birthday and showcase the popular sport. Bargatze was not only on hand for the fights but snapped pictures with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and his wife, actress Cheryl Hines.
That sparked several media outlets to <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/nate-bargatze-maga-photograph-media-attack/">shame Bargatze</a> for the snapshots, including The Daily Beast and Parade magazine. They played up a small sample of “outraged” social media users to buttress their flimsy argument.
<a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2026/06/16/nate-bargatze-trump-white-house-ufc-fight/90569424007/">“USA TODAY has reached out to Bargatze&#8217;s rep for comment.”</a>
What comment?
<blockquote>
Yes, I attended the event. No, I don’t refuse photographs from people, regardless of their political leanings.
</blockquote>
It’s absurd and tantamount to press bullying. And it quickly got worse. A few days later, far-Left comedian W. Kamau Bell slammed Bargatze for palling around with “fascists,” sparking a fresh wave of media coverage, <a href="https://variety.com/2026/film/news/nate-bargatze-maga-w-kamau-bell-fascist-photos-1236788337/">including Variety</a>.
The not-so-subtle message? Cozying up to MAGA in any way is like supporting fascism. That’s actually fascist.
Bargatze had to issue a public statement saying he’s a big UFC fan and remains apolitical.
Had Bargatze attended a similar event with a Democrat in the White House, the moment would have gotten little, if any, coverage. Or, it might have expanded his already huge career.
Why would the media pile on Bargatze? He’s technically too big to cancel, but it’s all about sending a message. Align with the Right in any manner, be it a social media post or a simple selfie, and you’ll be “outed” and punished.
The comedian will survive this news cycle. Lesser stars might not, and thus they’ll stay quiet moving forward.
None of this should be surprising. Actors like James Woods, Kevin Sorbo, Scott Baio, and more have faced retribution for simply leaning to the Right.
Hines hasn’t had an acting gig since her husband joined the Trump administration. She isn’t even a part of Larry David’s new HBO Max series, “Life, Larry and the Pursuit of Unhappiness.” That’s despite David working with stars he’s collaborated with over the decades on the show, including Jerry Seinfeld, Susie Essman, Vince Vaughn, and more.
And she’s not even conservative. Her crime? She’s married to a former Democrat who felt he could do some good for the country by joining the Trump administration.
It’s why Hollywood conservatives created Friends of Abe long ago. The secretive group once met to network, bond, and share horror stories about the professional pummeling they face for being on the Right.
The group still exists and remains an off-the-record affair.
The ironic part? Cancel Culture against conservatives has existed in Hollywood for some time. The term became popular when that punishment expanded to include anyone who ran afoul of the progressive narrative, AKA woke.
Now, as woke fades and Cancel Culture cases shrink, it’s back to where it originally thrived, punishing conservative stars who dare speak their minds or pose for selfies.
***
Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic and editor of <a href="http://www.hollywoodintoto.com/">HollywoodInToto.com</a>. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News&#8217; Big Hollywood. He&#8217;s also the host of <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-hollywood-in-toto-podcast-w-christian-toto/id1186449155">The Hollywood in Toto Podcast</a>. Follow him at <a href="https://twitter.com/HollywoodInToto?lang=en">@HollywoodInToto</a>.

Hollywood Exteriors And Landmarks – 2022

Cancel Culture Isn’t Dead Yet

America 250

Cancel Culture

Enterainment

Great American State Fair

Hollywood

Nate Bargatze

Woke Culture

Comedian and actor Kevin Hart defended a fellow comic on Tuesday over a George Floyd joke he told at Netflix’s “Roast of Kevin Hart” earlier this month.
Hart said he didn’t like the joke from Tony Hinchcliffe that some people have deemed racist, but he stressed that this type of over-the-top comedy is exactly what always happens at roasts, and he will always &#8220;appreciate humor.&#8221; Hart even went as far as to say that Hinchcliffe had one of the best sets at the roast, if not the best set. 
“The George Floyd joke, it wasn&#8217;t a tasteful joke to our culture, to our audience, but … if you’re watching the roast, you get why they&#8217;re doing it,” Hart said on “The Breakfast Club.” “You get why the racial humor is on the table. I wasn&#8217;t shocked — that’s what they do! Go look at the Tom Brady [roast]. It happens every year when they do a roast.”
During the roast, Hinchcliffe said to Hart, “The black community is so proud of you. … Right now, George Floyd is looking up at us all laughing so hard he can’t breathe.”
“People are talking about that joke,” Hart continued. “Talk about the set! Tony Hinchcliffe arguably had the best set, or one of the best sets.” 
<div id="attachment_1102629" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1102629" class="wp-image-1102629 size-large" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-2275530431-864x576.jpg" alt="Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for Netflix" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-2275530431-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-2275530431-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-2275530431-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/05/GettyImages-2275530431.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty Images for Netflix</div>
“I&#8217;m going to appreciate humor,” the comedian continued. “I don&#8217;t get affected by the attempt of humor. I get it.”
Hart also went on to ask what people were looking for from him. “What is it that you expect … to take a live production and stand up and fight Tony, or have a reaction? … Tony told a joke, it wasn&#8217;t a tasteful joke to us. We didn&#8217;t like it. Okay, &#8216;Hey man, f*ck that joke!&#8217; We move on.”
“It literally is, either you&#8217;re a fan of this level of content, or you&#8217;re not,” he added. “And if you&#8217;re not a fan, then you don&#8217;t watch it.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-media-max-width="560">
Kevin Hart is in Tony Hinchcliffe&#8217;s corner after the controversial comic was blasted for a George Floyd &#8220;joke&#8221; during Kevin&#8217;s roast.
🎥: The Breakfast Club <a href="https://t.co/gDtDTPcric">pic.twitter.com/gDtDTPcric</a>
— TMZ (@TMZ) <a href="https://twitter.com/TMZ/status/2059296457539387589?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 26, 2026</a></blockquote>
Hart himself had a run-in with cancel culture. Back in 2018, he was chosen to host the Oscars, but was threatened to be dropped if he didn’t make a public apology over past jokes that some deemed homophobic.
Though he did ultimately offer a public apology, Hart initially refused to apologize and said he had already addressed the old jokes in the past.
“So, I just got a call from the Academy, and that call basically said, ‘Kevin, apologize for your tweets of old or we’re gonna have to move on and find another host,’” he recalled at the time. “I chose to pass. I passed on the apology.”
“The reason why I passed is because I’ve addressed this several times,” he continued. “This is not the first time this has come up. I’ve addressed it. I’ve spoken on it. I’ve said where the rights and wrongs were. I’ve said who I am now versus who I was then. I’ve done it. I’m not gonna continue to go back and tap into the days of old when I’ve moved on and I’m in a completely different space in my life.”
“You live and you learn and you grow and you mature,” he added. “I’m in a space where all I can do is be better as a human being.”
Hart later said that he was sorry that he “hurt people” and was choosing not to host the Oscars so as not to be a “distraction.”

GettyImages-2275528285

Kevin Hart Disses Cancel Culture, Defends Comic Who Told George Floyd Joke

Comedy

George Floyd

Kevin Hart

This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/introducing-upstream-a-lifestyle-and-culture-section-of-the-daily-wire" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Upstream,</a> The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.
***
Sabrina Carpenter is <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/fan-disrupts-sabrina-carpenters-coachella-set-her-response-has-people-crying-islamophobia">canceled</a>. It&#8217;s surprising it took so long. The pop star famous for her bubbly, retro sounds is no stranger to controversy. She’s come under fire in the past for her performances simulating sex acts on stage, and her music videos routinely feature male murder fantasies. But now, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/sabrina-carpenter">Carpenter</a> has finally stepped on a progressive cultural land mine. During her headline Coachella performance, the singer committed a grave act of “xenophobia” when responding to a disruptive fan, and her carnivorous fan base has finally found an excuse to take out its queen bee.
Coachella 2026 was poised to be the highlight of Sabrina Carpenter’s meteoric rise to pop stardom. Her headline show, dubbed by fans “Sabrinawood” for its nods to Old Hollywood, was a star-studded affair with over-the-top stage production and cameos from iconic actors such as Sam Elliott. As initial videos of the performance trickled onto social media, the internet crowned her the reigning princess of Coachella.
Then the unthinkable happened. An interaction with a loud fan summoned the internet’s cancel culture vultures with accusations of racism and xenophobia.
X user <a href="https://x.com/PopBase/status/2043086112969646135/photo/2" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://x.com/PopBase/status/2043086112969646135/photo/2&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1776194968072000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2_BViCcgPq7UnveoCCxZi1">Poppy</a> posted a clip of the incident, which has now been removed, showing a performance interrupted by what Sabrina Carpenter called a “yodel.” After being informed by the audience member that it was a cultural custom, Sabrina grimaced and responded, “That’s your culture?” Poppy’s caption expressed disappointment: “sabrina saying that she doesn’t like a cultural arabic cheer… this is so insensitive and islamophobic.”
The post garnered 30.9 million views and a response from Carpenter, who quickly <a href="https://x.com/SabrinaAnnLynn/status/2043076482529108262?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://x.com/SabrinaAnnLynn/status/2043076482529108262?s%3D20&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1776194968072000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1EU5stybcQ2ES60TcDk80t">apologized</a> after being informed of the disruptor&#8217;s cultural background, “my apologies I didn’t see this person with my eyes.”
The fan was not from Appalachia or the Swiss Alps, as Sabrina likely assumed, and the noise was not a yodel, but a zaghrouta, a celebratory ululation used throughout North Africa and the Middle East. In the eyes of Sabrina Carpenter’s progressive fanbase, the offender was not a safe person to criticize.
“I’m in a complete shock,” one of the viral posts <a href="https://x.com/maxlldr/status/2043034137267777892" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://x.com/maxlldr/status/2043034137267777892&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1776194968072000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3eXtFG8jGHuXlKOYLZksUN">said</a>, “I used to be a huge sabrina carpenter fan and now she’s mocking my culture and calling me &#8216;weird&#8217;, this is so racist and inappropriate and it made me feel uncomfortable. this white blonde racist woman should be cancelled.”
The speed with which Sabrina Carpenter’s fans were willing to condemn her is revelatory of the inner workings of “stan” culture, a pop-star-obsessed internet subculture. The name originates from Eminem’s 2000 song “<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOMhN-hfMtY" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3DgOMhN-hfMtY&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1776194968072000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2-KABhGKzVyHq7gaWuTus9">Stan</a>,” which chronicles a fan’s obsession that devolves from sending letters into a murder-suicide. For “stans” to adopt this identity as their own, even if done ironically, indicates a destructive underbelly.
As I pointed out in <a href="https://x.com/maggiemoda/status/2043372428496195946?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://x.com/maggiemoda/status/2043372428496195946?s%3D20&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1776194968072000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2DvwSFJPtN2eyAE1W1EeDy">this</a> post, the quick switch-up from fan to hater is often rooted in progressive politics. Over a decade ago, a Tumblr <a href="https://yourfaveisproblematic.tumblr.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yourfaveisproblematic.tumblr.com/&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1776194968072000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0_OoV2y0-bp_yAJ0snFloN">account</a> called Your Fave is Problematic became famous for its <a href="https://yourfaveisproblematic.tumblr.com/list" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yourfaveisproblematic.tumblr.com/list&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1776194968072000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1w8v3IG9hlf6f5TqYkkkx3">lists</a> of celebrity transgressions. Even Katy Perry, the current girlfriend of former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, was <a href="https://yourfaveisproblematic.tumblr.com/post/45579525968/katy-perry" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yourfaveisproblematic.tumblr.com/post/45579525968/katy-perry&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1776194968072000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2dd8t0fJ86A4JhSwpcRrMQ">“called out”</a> for transgressions such as “[demonstrating] unsafe binding techniques,” cultural appropriation, and &#8220;trivializing bisexuality” with her hit song <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAp9BKosZXs" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v%3DtAp9BKosZXs&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1776194968072000&amp;usg=AOvVaw3P8JKmdPGiWjiCdfhQCHUj">“I Kissed a Girl.”</a> As a pop culture-obsessed tween, I was introduced to progressive puritanism by blogs such as these.
Stan culture is inextricably linked with progressive politics. Once a star has misbehaved, the incident serves as cover for a variety of heinous comments and obsessive cyberbullying of both the star and her fans. Sabrina Carpenter will undoubtedly encounter this fate. Her fans now have a decision to make that feels consequential: call her out and distance yourself, or become problematic too.
This is an under-recognized entry point of the progressive radicalization pipeline: online stan culture. The participants are young and want to fit in, and participating in the cancelation mob is a moral duty in this environment.
While many have correctly pointed out that Sabrina Carpenter has cultivated this type of fanbase, it is nearly impossible to ascend to her level of stardom without engaging in progressive politicking. The danger is that progressives are more puritan than puritans themselves and offer no path to redemption. The stakes of offending them, which is laughably easy to do, are incredibly high.
For radical progressive pop fans, God is replaced by the pop star. In this role, it isn’t enough for Sabrina Carpenter to be exceptional; she must be perfect. If she is human, like the rest of us, then she doesn’t deserve the lights, the stage, the celebrity cameos, and most importantly, the money that comes with being at the top. In this light, Carpenter’s cancellation is completely predictable.
***
Maggie Anders is a video journalist and political commentator. Her work explores international political movements, history, pop culture, economics, the cost-of-living crisis, and Gen Z social issues.

The 68th Annual Grammy Awards

Sabrina Carpenter’s Coachella Stumble Shows How Little It Takes To Trigger The Outrage Mob

Celebrities

Culture

Music

Sabrina Carpenter

Upstream

This article is part of <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/introducing-upstream-a-lifestyle-and-culture-section-of-the-daily-wire" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Upstream,</a> The Daily Wire’s new home for culture and lifestyle. Real human insight and human stories — from our featured writers to you.
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Earlier this month, Bluesky CEO Jay Graber announced she was stepping down to make way for a &#8220;seasoned operator focused on scaling and execution.&#8221; For years, parts of the press and the online intelligentsia treated Bluesky as the future of public discourse. Outside those circles, most people barely noticed it existed. That gap between seeming central and being socially marginal is the real legacy of Bluesky.
More than a story about one platform’s limits, it is a window into a larger dynamic of online life, where tightly connected minorities can make their conversations look like the voice of the public.
Bluesky has around 42 million total users, a fraction of the hundreds of millions claimed by X and Threads. But more importantly, as Jesse Singal <a href="https://www.blockedandreported.org/p/episode-299-the-politics-of-misery" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.blockedandreported.org/p/episode-299-the-politics-of-misery&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1774405728025000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2ucyMWHrEofUsVT7fLpz2A">pointed out</a> to Blocked and Reported cohost Katie Herzog, “There&#8217;s a little more than a million people who like a post at least once a day.” Herzog responded, “That&#8217;s so small,” to which Singal added, “It punches so far above its weight because the people who are on there are disproportionately in media or academia, just people with strong sort of professional opinions.” Bluesky feels like a major public square to parts of the commentariat because the people most likely to shape media narratives are overrepresented among its active users.
That observation has a name. Academics call it the majority illusion. It’s when a small but densely connected group behaves a certain way in public, and its behavior looks far more widespread than it really is. A controversy can look national even though it doesn’t extend beyond a narrow slice of highly online participants. A view can feel ubiquitous without being common. Understanding the majority illusion is key. It might also explain why the waves of cancellation have rolled back since Musk took over X.
There are two parts to the majority illusion: a production phenomenon and a perception bias.
The production side is straightforward. Online content is not created evenly. A very small number of highly active users produce a wildly disproportionate share of what everyone else sees. On Reddit, for example, the top 1 percent of users <a href="https://archive.ph/o/dz14o/https:/www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/6dftf1/from_jan_2015_to_feb_2017_the_most_prolific_001/?st=J35SZ0I4&amp;sh=6da96e5b" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.ph/o/dz14o/https:/www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/6dftf1/from_jan_2015_to_feb_2017_the_most_prolific_001/?st%3DJ35SZ0I4%26sh%3D6da96e5b&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1774405728025000&amp;usg=AOvVaw1kYmgaHrGBB3JCI87MiNgq">write 40%</a> of the comments. Wikipedia, too, is <a href="https://archive.ph/o/dz14o/https:/www.vice.com/en/article/7x47bb/wikipedia-editors-elite-diversity-foundation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">largely the product of a small minority</a>, as 77% of entries are written by 1% of users. Most people lurk, scroll, and occasionally react. A small minority posts constantly, argues constantly, and in doing so sets the apparent tone of the space.
The perception side is where the distortion takes hold. Observers infer from this uneven stream of content that they are seeing society as it is. Naturally, they then overestimate the popularity, intensity, and even moral legitimacy of certain beliefs simply because they are expressed more often. Critically, however, visibility is not the same as representativeness.
<a href="https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/article/4/12/pgaf310/8377954" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/article/4/12/pgaf310/8377954&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1774405728025000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2OLXlW_pwSepmsZBZVB_nU">A recent paper</a> confirmed the scale of the distortion. The American public believes that &#8220;43% of all Reddit users have posted severely toxic comments and that 47% of all Facebook users have shared false news online.&#8221; Platform-level estimates put the true figures between 3 and 7%. Importantly, the authors found the majority illusion can contribute to a feeling of moral decline. If people repeatedly encounter extreme or antisocial behavior online, they can come to believe it is normal, widespread, and reflective of the culture at large, even when it is produced by a small and unrepresentative minority.
These distortions extend well beyond platform behavior. Americans <a href="https://yougov.com/en-us/articles/41556-americans-misestimate-small-subgroups-population" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://yougov.com/en-us/articles/41556-americans-misestimate-small-subgroups-population&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1774405728025000&amp;usg=AOvVaw2LXctPPB5GCVTLNppFocFr">routinely overestimate</a> the size of minority groups, the prevalence of fringe beliefs, and the popularity of radical social attitudes. Online life trains people to mistake frequency of exposure for frequency in the population.
The majority illusion also helps to explain all the episodes of overstated virality. A few years back, several outlets reported that young TikTok users were sharing Osama bin Laden’s “Letter to America” as though it were sweeping the platform. But when John Herrman <a href="https://archive.ph/o/dz14o/https:/nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/11/did-bin-laden-really-go-viral-on-tiktok.html" data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://archive.ph/o/dz14o/https:/nymag.com/intelligencer/2023/11/did-bin-laden-really-go-viral-on-tiktok.html&amp;source=gmail&amp;ust=1774405728025000&amp;usg=AOvVaw0OoR1yPOAMbmVjGJMjg-L6">looked into the supposed trend</a>, he found only “a few dozen results” tied to the manifesto. The same trend could be found in the NyQuil chicken panic the year before. A tiny pocket of attention was converted into a national morality tale.
I suspect this framework also helps explain why the cancellation machine has weakened since Elon Musk acquired Twitter. Cancellation depended on a particular network structure. Old Twitter contained a highly concentrated cluster of journalists, academics, activists, and professional scolds who were interconnected and visible to institutional decision-makers. Because these users often moved in lockstep, outrage could appear much larger and more representative than it really was. When they converged on a target, the resulting pile-on looked to outside observers like a broad moral consensus. Institutions, uncertain of their footing and often terrified of reputational risk, treated that signal as authoritative.
Musk’s takeover disrupted this dynamic. First, it changed the composition of the network itself. Right-leaning users, anti-cancellation voices, and previously suppressed participants became more visible. There was no longer a relatively uniform moral culture, and outrage could no longer pass as consensus.
Second, the migration of many activists, journalists, and academics to Bluesky effectively narrowed the reach of the cluster most committed to cancellation logic. On Bluesky, users still try to cancel people, and they are able to generate a powerful sense of unanimity among themselves. But the agreement is within a smaller, more socially insulated network that no longer includes employers, publishers, universities, nonprofits, and media organizations. By moving to Bluesky, these users lost the institutional pathways that once turned online outrage into real-world punishment.
The result is that the cancellation mechanism weakened at both ends. That does not mean cancellation disappeared, or that outrage no longer matters. Rather, it showed that the old machine relied on very specific conditions. It needed a platform where a relatively small but highly connected elite could agree with itself, amplify itself, and then be seen by institutions as speaking for everyone else.
Bluesky’s real lesson is not that one app failed to become the new town square. It is that the modern internet is remarkably good at manufacturing false majorities. A small, hyperactive, tightly networked class can make its preferences feel universal, its outrage feel democratic, and its obsessions feel unavoidable. But volume is not consensus, visibility is not legitimacy, and a feed is not the public. The sooner we all embrace that distinction, the less power we will give to niche online worlds to define social reality for everyone else.
***
Will Rinehart is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he focuses on the political economy of technology and innovation.

GettyImages-2209306262

How A Niche Online World Made Its Outrage Look National

Social Media

Hollywood is great at keeping secrets. 
Ellen DeGeneres built a career on a relentlessly nice persona that belied her behind-the-scenes cruelty. Harvey Weinstein’s Midas touch distracted us from his predatory encounters with starlets. And Sean “Diddy” Combs turned out to be more than a music mogul — he allegedly presided over a garish, sex-obsessed ring.
The new Hollywood Blacklist, by comparison, is out in the open. Conservative artists, beware. Sharing your point of view can cost you. Dearly.
Yet very few industry types will admit or decry it. And we’re seeing even more evidence of it.
<div id="attachment_1059531" style="width: 842px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1059531" class="size-large wp-image-1059531" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-854869502-832x576.jpg" alt="NEW YORK, NY - SEPTEMBER 27: Cheryl Hines and Larry David attend the &quot;Curb Your Enthusiasm&quot; season 9 premiere at SVA Theater on September 27, 2017 in New York City. (Photo by Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)" width="832" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-854869502-832x576.jpg 832w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-854869502-300x208.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-854869502-768x532.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-854869502.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 832px) 100vw, 832px" />Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images</div>
Cheryl Hines has been working nonstop for decades, even if we all know her best as Larry’s exasperated wife (then ex-wife) on HBO’s “Curb Your Enthusiasm.”
But a funny thing happened to Hines on the way to her husband Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.&#8217;s endorsement of Donald Trump.
The roles dried up.
The in-demand comic actress hasn’t had a new gig since “Curb” wrapped two years ago. Is she turning work down? Or did her phone stop ringing? What could have changed?
Hines has been polite on the subject in a barrage of interviews, suggesting her Hollywood friendships have strained under that political weight. She also isn’t a part of Larry David’s upcoming HBO comedy series, an untitled satire co-produced by the Obamas.
The Daily Mail added that the Obamas <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-15000917/Cheryl-Hines-Larry-David-new-HBO-barack-michelle-obama.html">won’t allow Hines</a> to be part of the show.
She even got <a href="https://x.com/bradleywhitford/status/1827444691316732393?lang=en">called out</a> by Emmy winner Bradley Whitford on social media for her political ties.
<blockquote>…way to stay silent while your lunatic husband throws his support behind the adjudicated rapist who brags about stripping women of their fundamental rights. Gutsy. Great example for the kids. Profile in courage.</blockquote>
She also may have lost a long-term friendship with former podcast partner Tig Notaro. The two <a href="https://people.com/tig-notaro-reflects-on-strange-friendship-fallout-from-cheryl-hines-over-rfk-jr-trump-ties-11923515">hosted “Tig and Cheryl: True Story”</a> for three years before ending the show in May of 2023. Notaro helped end the show due to Hines’ husband’s political aspirations, though it’s unclear why that element had to be a show stopper.
<div id="attachment_1059545" style="width: 825px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1059545" class="size-large wp-image-1059545" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/MixCollage-13-Mar-2026-01-23-PM-8640-815x576.jpg" alt="PALM DESERT, CALIFORNIA - JANUARY 31: Cheryl Hines attends the Third Annual &quot;Starry Starry Night Gala&quot; at Chaparral Country Club on January 31, 2026 in Palm Desert, California. (Photo by David Crotty/Getty Images)BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 07: Tig Notaro attends the 62nd Cinema Audio Society Awards on March 07, 2026 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Lizeth Ramirez/Getty Images)" width="815" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/MixCollage-13-Mar-2026-01-23-PM-8640-815x576.jpg 815w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/MixCollage-13-Mar-2026-01-23-PM-8640-300x212.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/MixCollage-13-Mar-2026-01-23-PM-8640-768x543.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/MixCollage-13-Mar-2026-01-23-PM-8640-1536x1086.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/MixCollage-13-Mar-2026-01-23-PM-8640-2048x1448.jpg 2048w" sizes=" (max-width: 815px) 100vw, 815px" />Hines: Photo by David Crotty. Notaro: Photo by Lizeth Ramirez</div>
Notaro suggests politics didn’t end their friendship, although it clearly forced her to quit the podcast.
<blockquote>I realized one day that she doesn’t ever reach out to me anymore. She responds to me, but she doesn’t reach out to me. I had to kind of shake myself out of denial that, ‘Oh, she’s gone,’ and, ‘OK, I need to let this go. I need to let it go.’</blockquote>
Others in Hollywood likely did just that to Hines. The Hollywood Reporter even suggested that would <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/politics-news/cheryl-hines-rfk-jr-drop-presidential-race-trump-1235981992/">happen due to her political ties</a>. The actress has been on the Left for some time, for what it’s worth, but she’s being judged based on her husband’s views.
Dennis Quaid has defied the new Hollywood Blacklist. For now.
The 71-year-old screen legend stays busy, including a supporting turn in the new Netflix action romp “War Machine.” He even starred as the title character in 2024’s “Reagan” and admitted to being a President Donald Trump supporter during the film’s publicity push.
<div id="attachment_1059553" style="width: 875px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1059553" class="size-large wp-image-1059553" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2263942335-865x576.jpg" alt="CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS - FEBRUARY 27: Actor Dennis Quaid (R) joins U.S. President Donald Trump as he speaks at the Port of Corpus Christi on February 27, 2026 in Corpus Christi, Texas. Trump visited Texas to deliver remarks on affordability and economic issues less than a week before the state's midterm primary elections on March 3rd. (Photo by Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images)" width="865" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2263942335-865x576.jpg 865w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2263942335-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2263942335-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2263942335.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 865px) 100vw, 865px" />Roberto Schmidt/Getty Images</div>
Still, the work keeps on coming. That’s more common with established, Right-leaning actors like Tim Allen, Kelsey Grammer, and Jon Voight. But Quaid’s political leanings, which he describes as more independent than doctrinaire conservative, still found him singled out by a peer.
A peer who recently joined him on screen.
Nick Offerman and Quaid worked together on last year’s “Sovereign,” the story of an anti-government zealot (Offerman) who pushes his conspiracy theories too far.
Offerman didn’t share a negative word about his time on the set with Quaid on the “Lovett or Leave It” podcast with former Obama speechwriter Jon Lovett. Instead, he insulted the actor <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qg2smuJfxN8&amp;t=1s">for thinking the “wrong” way</a>.
“Right after we finished the movie, he suddenly came out with a gospel country record and went on Tucker Carlson and f***ing [Sean] Hannity to play his Trump gospel songs,” Offerman said. 
“What? He’s a hero of my life. I’ve looked up to him. He’s a great actor.”
<div id="attachment_1059591" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1059591" class="size-large wp-image-1059591" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2219737581-864x576.jpg" alt="SYDNEY, AUSTRALIA - JUNE 12: Nick Offerman speaks during a press conference at Pier One Sydney Harbour on June 12, 2025 in Sydney, Australia. Offerman and Mullally will take the stage for, Unscripted and Unfiltered, to close out Vivid Sydney 2025. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2219737581-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2219737581-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2219737581-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2219737581.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Brendon Thorne/Getty Images</div>
Later, the “Parks &amp; Recreation” alum doubled down on both Dennis and brother Randy Quaid. The latter worked in Hollywood for years, but a <a href="https://abcnews.com/Entertainment/randy-quaid-wife-evi-hollywood-refugees-exclusive-interview/story?id=12020421">series of bizarre incidents</a> coaxed his exit from the industry.
“[Randy Quaid] was very crazy, and he went away, but Dennis kept it under wraps until last year,” he continued. “But he’s now gone.”
The Blacklist-style bigotry isn’t relegated to the film industry. Hip hop superstar Nicki Minaj didn’t don a red MAGA hat during President Trump’s first term, but in recent months, she noticed how the Republican leader <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/a-deep-sense-of-gratitude-nicki-minaj-praises-trump-for-action-on-persecuted-christians">supported Christians being persecuted in Nigeria</a>.
<div id="attachment_1059621" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1059621" class="size-large wp-image-1059621" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2258679012-864x576.jpg" alt="WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 28: Musician Nicki Minaj (L) joins U.S. President Donald Trump on stage as he delivers remarks during the Treasury Department's Trump Accounts Summit at Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium on January 28, 2026 in Washington, DC. &quot;Trump Accounts&quot; are a portion of recently passed tax and spending legislation where the federal government will deposit $1,000 into investment accounts for every child born between 2025 and 2028 once parents sign their children up while filing their income taxes.  (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2258679012-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2258679012-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2258679012-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/GettyImages-2258679012.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />Win McNamee/Getty Images</div>
That resonated with her, and she eventually threw her celebrity cache behind the unorthodox leader. Within weeks, she became the comic target of Grammy host Trevor Noah at the gala’s annual soiree.
<blockquote>Nicki Minaj is not here…She’s still at the White House with Donald Trump, discussing very important issues.</blockquote>
He then broke out his Trump impression as the Tony crowd chortled.
<blockquote>Actually Nicki, I have the biggest ass! Everybody’s saying it. I know they say it’s you, but it’s me. WAP, WAP, WAP. Look at it, baby.</blockquote>
Her crime? Being an independent thinker, and no progressive star in Hollywood or the music industry had her back.
And actress Katherine Heigl could be next. The once-in-demand star of “Grey’s Anatomy” appeared in public earlier this month to support the Big Dog Ranch Rescue gala at Mar-A-Lago, Trump’s private retreat.
<div id="attachment_1058339" style="width: 973px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-1058339" class="size-large wp-image-1058339" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Katherine-Heigl-963x576.jpg" alt="Katherine Heigl" width="963" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Katherine-Heigl-963x576.jpg 963w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Katherine-Heigl-300x180.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Katherine-Heigl-768x460.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2026/03/Katherine-Heigl.jpg 1200w" sizes=" (max-width: 963px) 100vw, 963px" />Manny Hernandez/Getty Images</div>
She even brought her mom to the red carpet gala.
Heigl had to make a public statement after appearing at the apolitical event, defending her passion for worthy causes by saying, <a href="https://pagesix.com/2026/03/11/celebrity-news/katherine-heigl-hits-back-at-fans-politicizing-her-attendance-at-mar-a-lago-rescue-event/">“animals don’t vote.”</a> Could that one appearance impact her chances at a Hollywood comeback?
Ask Offerman.
And this is the stuff we see in public, not the behind-the-scenes cancellations and attacks. It’s likely far worse there.
The unofficial conservative blacklist may have weakened in recent months, with high-profile stars like Zachary Levi and Sylvester Stallone supporting Trump without overt blowback.
In some ways the bigotry against Right-leaning artists is as strong as ever.
* * *
Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic, and editor of <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News’ Big Hollywood. Follow him at <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

President Trump Speaks Port Of Corpus Christi In Texas

Hollywood Still Blacklists Conservatives — Now They Don’t Even Hide It

Cheryl Hines

Conservatives

Dennis Quaid

Donald Trump

Entertainment

Nicki Minaj

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

White House

Genocide doesn’t begin with weapons, it starts with words.
I saw it firsthand in Rwanda back in the 1990s.
“Are you Tutsi, Hutu, or Twa?” asked the teacher. A confused little girl was being reprimanded for not lining up properly. The question didn’t just divide a room, it foreshadowed a genocide.
The girl’s family had never spoken of tribes, they simply believed in letting children be children. That day, however, tribalism entered her life. Soon after, her parents were killed in the 1994 Rwandan genocide that claimed nearly a million lives.
What I witnessed in Rwanda decades ago echoes in today’s digital age.
Today’s tribalism hides in plain sight and it doesn’t carry machetes, it carries hashtags. Tribalism thrives in echo chambers, where social media turns strangers into enemies. It grows through cancel culture, where conversations are replaced by condemnation. It sharpens its edge with purity tests, where one mistake erases forgiveness. These aren’t harmless trends, they’re cracks that can split nations. “Othering” people puts everyone at risk.
Division begins quietly, with whispers. It ends violently, with annihilation.
<h3>Warning Signs Are Flashing Again</h3>
Before the Holocaust, the Jews were first singled out by prejudice, then by propaganda, followed by policy, and finally punishment. 
In Cambodia, intellectuals were targeted. 
In Bosnia, ethnic lines became death sentences. 
In Rwanda, ethnic identity was weaponized.
But persecution isn’t just a history lesson. History’s warnings aren’t relics, they are roadmaps. And right now, those same patterns are resurfacing. Across the globe, from Nigeria to North Korea, Christians are being targeted for practicing their faith. In the first century, Christians were burned alive to light Rome’s streets; now, in Nigeria, Afghanistan, Sudan, and beyond, believers are killed en masse for the same confession of faith.
The numbers are sobering: Persecution is no longer a fringe issue. Today, more than 380 million Christians worldwide endure high levels of persecution, according to  <a href="https://www.opendoors.org/en-US/persecution/countries/">Open Doors’ 2025 World Watch List</a>. In Nigeria alone, <a href="https://ewtn.co.uk/article-56000-killed-in-nigerias-ethnic-and-religious-violence-christians-disproportionately-affected/">16,769 Christians</a> have been killed in the last four years, a tragic pattern that has persisted since 2009.
Genocide never begins with weapons; it starts with whispers, quiet laws, subtle exclusions. If we fail to remember, fail to speak, fail to act, history will not just repeat; it will escalate. And that’s precisely why I’ll be joining other faith leaders to address the growing threat to Christians at the <a href="https://www.washingtonpolicyinstitute.org/events/persecuted-and-prevailing-addressing-christian-persecution-in-the-modern-world/">Persecuted and Prevailing</a> panel at the Museum of the Bible on December 4.
The suffering of Christians, or any group, must never be reduced to a talking point. Persecution is not a partisan issue, it’s a human dignity issue. Freedom is fragile, and its defense must unite us beyond party lines.
We must teach the next generation that ignorance breeds indifference and persecution isn’t political. It’s about human dignity, justice, and the value of life.
As Hebrews 13:3 reminds us: “Remember also those being mistreated, as if you felt their pain in your own bodies.” That wisdom feels urgent today. Silence enables suffering, and ignoring persecution normalizes it.
<h3>Why I Speak Out</h3>
I speak not from theory, but from experience.
As a student in 1992, I lived in Russia as it staggered out of 70 years of enforced conformity under Communism. Freedom had returned, but trust was broken. Conversations carried a quiet grief, as an entire generation awoke to the truth that their God-given right to worship and think critically had been stolen. The devastation wasn’t only economic, it was spiritual and psychological.
That moment taught me that when lies become law and truth becomes treason, society unravels. Division doesn’t erupt overnight, it is cultivated through propaganda, fear, and silence. The lessons from Soviet Russia warn us that when words are weaponized, freedom dies long before the first shot is fired.
Years later, on the 10th anniversary of Rwanda’s genocide, I stood in villages still scarred by tribalism and visited prisons filled with remorseful men and women who’d been swept into the blindness of division. I met families led by children because their parents had been slaughtered. I worked to reunite Sudan’s “Lost Boys” with any family they had left after walking hundreds of miles to escape war. I remember their faces. I carry their stories. But my children and their entire generation don’t. They scroll headlines and hear fragments, but they don’t feel the weight of what I saw. That’s why I speak, and why we all should. If we don’t, history will whisper its warnings into an empty room.
<h3>The Choice Ahead</h3>
To Gen Z, educators, and parents, I say this: You hold the pen that writes tomorrow’s story. Will it be a tale of courage or complacency? Will we raise a generation that can spot propaganda, or one that repeats history’s mistakes?
Persecution anywhere is a threat to freedom everywhere. Our classrooms should teach more than dates and facts, they should teach empathy, vigilance, and responsibility. This is not about scoring political points or comparing pain. It’s about defending the dignity of every human life.
When we ignore any kind of persecution, we erode the foundation of freedom itself. History is not just a record of the past — it’s a warning for the future. Silence is not neutral — it’s surrender. And the cost of indifference is always paid in human lives.
The choice is ours. The time is now.
* * *
<a href="https://kerryhasenbalg.com/">Kerry Hasenbalg</a> is a writer, speaker, and tireless advocate for faith, freedom, and human dignity. As the founder of <a href="https://www.becomingfoundation.org/">The Becoming Foundation</a> and former Executive Director of the Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute, Kerry has shaped global child welfare policy and worked in post-conflict regions to advance healing and justice. Follow her on <a href="https://www.instagram.com/kerryhasenbalg/">Instagram</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
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Rwanda Commemorates 31st Anniversary Of Tutsi Genocide

The Quiet Divide That Precedes Genocide – And Why We Must Act Now

Africa

Bible

Christians

genocide

Nigeria

Persecution

Religion

There’s this mic-drop line in the trailer for Leonardo DiCaprio’s new film, “One Battle After Another”: “It’s not that hard, they/them.” 
When my husband and I heard it in theaters, we couldn’t help but shoot one another a look. We weren’t outraged; frankly, we were exhausted.
That zinger was clearly written to earn brownie points from a woke crowd, but it landed like a prepackaged corporate slogan. Any potential hype from the action movie trailer tanked the way an advertisement does when it tries too hard to sound like a movement.
But that’s where we’re at now. Even Hollywood trailers have a virtue-signal quota that writers type into scripts as proof that the studio has passed ideological inspections.
We’re not the only ones tired of it, apparently, since the whole notion of non-binary identities appears to be collapsing in on itself.
Sociologist Eric Kaufmann recently published data on <a href="https://x.com/epkaufm/status/1978074195767480659">X</a> that went viral, showing that the number of young people identifying as a non-binary “gender identity” — and even those identifying sexually as “queer” — has dropped dramatically.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
1/ NEW: trans identification is in free fall among the young
(h/t <a href="https://twitter.com/fire?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@FIRE</a> data in particular) <a href="https://t.co/i0Z1BNcWG8">pic.twitter.com/i0Z1BNcWG8</a>
— Eric Kaufmann (@epkaufm) <a href="https://twitter.com/epkaufm/status/1978074195767480659?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 14, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Credit: @epkaufm/X.com
Meanwhile, heterosexual identification quietly, and unfashionably, has seen a rebound.
That’s not political backlash, however. People are fatigued by a fading trend.
For years, “gender identity” meant more than personal exploration. Frankly, it felt like a public performance. The internet made it oh-so-contagious; Hollywood made it fashionable. Then corporations made it profitable.
But the more that identity became a virtue to pander or a brand to adopt, the less authentic it felt.
I can think of no better example than actress and singer Demi Lovato, as her story shows the emotional cost better than any statistic. Her struggles were, as many child stars’ are, very public and very difficult to watch: childhood trauma, addiction, near-fatal overdoses, long stretches of recovery, and then a relapse. But in 2021, amidst all that turmoil, Lovato “came out” as non-binary and deemed her pronouns “they/them.”
At the time, she described her new identity as freeing, one that made sense. But let’s be honest, freedom built on instability isn’t lasting. By the next year, she quietly started using “she/her” pronouns again and told interviewers she had become “exhausted” by constantly explaining herself. Focus on that word. She wasn’t just fatigued by correcting strangers, she was clearly weary of trying to rebuild her life through a faulty label based on fiction.
Kaufmann’s research suggests that Lovato’s identity arc clearly mirrors what’s happening on a larger scale. The boom in “trans” and “non-binary” identifications also happened to coincide with historic spikes in depression, anxiety, and loneliness — especially during COVID-19 lockdowns. But now, as self-reported mental health appears to have improved, those identities appear to be declining.
One may not have directly caused the other, but the overlap is worth pondering. For many, that “non-binary” label could have been a survival mechanism of sorts, a way they could name their inner chaos and get it off their chest in a culture that began looking down on traditional anchors like family and even faith. And once Lovato returned to “she/her,” she signaled to the public she was in recovery. This summer, she even <a href="https://www.eviemagazine.com/post/demi-lovato-s-case-study-and-why-women-are-more-prone-to-mimetic-desire">married</a> her Canadian beau, looking absolutely stunning in a traditional white wedding dress to boot.
<div id="attachment_988273" style="width: 843px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-988273" class="size-large wp-image-988273" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2171634394-833x576.jpg" alt="HOLLYWOOD, CALIFORNIA - SEPTEMBER 12: Jordan Lutes and Demi Lovato attend the Los Angeles premiere of Hulu's 'Child Star' at NeueHouse Hollywood on September 12, 2024 in Hollywood, California. (Photo by Kevin Winter/Getty Images)" width="833" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2171634394-833x576.jpg 833w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2171634394-300x207.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2171634394-768x531.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/10/GettyImages-2171634394.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 833px) 100vw, 833px" />Kevin Winter/Getty Images</div>
Even Hollywood gets the picture that the magic is wearing off. For years, Netflix and other leading platforms turned representation into their marketing strategies. They inserted gender lessons into everything from teen dramas to children’s cartoons.
The 2021 children’s animated show “Ridley Jones,” for example, had a talking bison come out as “non-binary” and ask his grandma to use “they/them” pronouns. The show was “quietly dumped” two years later, as <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11863181/Netflix-quietly-dumps-Ridley-Jones-bison-comes-non-binary-grandma.html">Daily Mail</a> put it, once that novelty wore off.
This show, and many other forms of pandering media, are storytelling failures. Audiences don’t want to watch a sermon or get lectured. They just want entertainment, and they instinctively recognize when something that once felt radical is now conventional.
So, we’re witnessing the rise and fall of a trend cycle. A movement went viral, institutions codified it, corporations co-opted it, and then … many followers moved on. It started as “liberation,” but it became the branding du jour, which always collapses under its own fickle weight.
Between the data points, I see something hopeful happening. People are quietly rediscovering that they don’t need to reinvent themselves to feel or be whole. To them, I say, “Welcome home.”
For years, authenticity was socially measured by how fluid you were willing to be, but now it matters more how anchored you can stay in the storm. We’ve spent a decade being told that “normal” is oppressive, but normalcy is looking hotter than ever.
And maybe people won’t want to admit they were wrong — I get it. No one likes to admit they had it all mixed up. But when my husband and I heard that “mic-drop” in the movie theater, we didn’t react with cynicism. We recognized that culture has reached a point where even the symbols of rebellion have become clichés.
That’s why this new data is less like a regression and more like a release. After years of confusion, people aren’t running backward, I promise. They’re running home to simplicity and to the peace of saying, “I’m fine with being me.”
* * *
Andrea Mew is the managing editor of IW Features, the grassroots storytelling arm of Independent Women, and a contributing writer for Evie Magazine.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
Join us now during our exclusive Deal of the Decade. Get everything for $7 a month. Not as fans. As fighters. Go to <a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/">DailyWire.com/Subscribe</a> to join now.

London Premiere Of “One Battle After Another”

Even Hollywood Is Growing Tired Of Pronouns

Demi Lovato

Gender Identity

Non-binary

Opinion

Pronouns

Transgender

“Not good riddance, but riddance.”
That was late-night host <a href="https://www.the-independent.com/news/world/americas/us-politics/jimmy-kimmel-republican-viewers-lose-riddance-monologues-healthcare-gun-control-a8004011.html">Jimmy Kimmel’s reaction</a> way back in 2017 to a question about pushing his right-leaning fans away with his progressive transformation. This transformation only grew more pronounced during Trump 2.0.
It culminated in one of the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/abc-pulls-jimmy-kimmels-late-night-show-indefinitely-after-charlie-kirk-comments?author=Tim+Pearce&amp;category=undefined&amp;elementPosition=8&amp;row=3&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+News&amp;rowType=Vertical+Carousel&amp;title=ABC+Pulls+Jimmy+Kimmel%E2%80%99s+Late+Night+Show+%E2%80%98Indefinitely%E2%80%99+After+Charlie+Kirk+Comments">ghastliest comments</a> ever uttered by a late-night host:
<blockquote>We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it.</blockquote>
The public knew enough at that point to assume the killer targeted Kirk for his conservative views. More information came out the same day of Kimmel’s comments to seal the sad deal on the matter.
His lie ricocheted around social media and podcasts while legacy media outlets looked the other way. Then, some ABC affiliates balked, sending Kimmel to the bench, perhaps for good.
<div id="attachment_974611" style="width: 874px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-974611" class="size-large wp-image-974611" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-2235598843-864x576.jpg" alt="LOS ANGELES, CA - SEPTEMBER 18: Jimmy Kimmel is seen on September 18, 2025 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by PG/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images)" width="864" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-2235598843-864x576.jpg 864w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-2235598843-300x200.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-2235598843-768x512.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/09/GettyImages-2235598843.jpg 1024w" sizes=" (max-width: 864px) 100vw, 864px" />PG/Bauer-Griffin/GC Images</div>
It caps a tumultuous eight years for the ex-“Man Show” host, one whose rude and crude brand gave way to lectures, finger-wagging, and the occasional tear.
We still don’t know all the details behind Kimmel’s benching. Sinclair, the company behind many ABC affiliates, pulled the show and demanded a full-throated apology from the far-Left Kimmel. Nexstar also axed the show, at least for now.
ABC then followed suit.
The decisions came after FCC chair Brendan Carr excoriated Kimmel’s comments on “The Benny Show” and suggested action may be required. <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2025/09/18/jimmy-kimmel-charlie-kirk-fcc-carr.html">Carr followed up on those opinions via CNBC.</a>
<blockquote>It was appearing to directly mislead the American public about a significant fact that probably one of the most significant political events we’ve had in a long time, for the most significant political assassination we’ve seen in a long time.</blockquote>
Carr has a legal leg to stand on, given ABC uses the public airwaves, but it still bears a whiff of danger to our collective free speech. The government shouldn’t get involved in speech matters, by and large. And First Amendment purists should watch matters closely, something the ACLU once did before becoming regretfully woke.
What’s obvious is how Kimmel abused his platform over the years, mocked others who got fired for sharing the “wrong” words, and embraced nuclear-grade hypocrisy.
Remember Roseanne Barr? The cranky mind behind the ABC sitcom bearing her name lost her job in 2018 after sending out one racially-charged tweet targeting a member of the Obama administration, Valerie Jarrett. Barr swiftly apologized and said she didn’t know Jarrett was black. ABC, owned by Disney, fired her anyway.
Kimmel’s response?
He joked that the <a href="https://x.com/TimcastNews/status/1968491997246730340">show should go on</a>, but this time focusing on her character’s husband, Dan, played by John Goodman. He couldn’t defend her or suggest ABC shouldn’t fire an employee for one awful post.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Never forget how Jimmy Kimmel misrepresented <a href="https://twitter.com/therealroseanne?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@therealroseanne</a> joke tweet and pushed for the network to take her show away. <a href="https://t.co/zok8WJN5nt">pic.twitter.com/zok8WJN5nt</a>
— Timcast News (@TimcastNews) <a href="https://twitter.com/TimcastNews/status/1968491997246730340?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 18, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Credit: @TimcastNews/X.com
Some free speech hero. That would be a pattern.
When multiple social media platforms banned President Trump following the events of Jan. 6, Kimmel <a href="https://x.com/libsoftiktok/status/1968548319757480447">delighted in the news</a>. He used his then-Twitter account to share a cartoon of Trump unsuccessfully trying to access the site, a single tear dropping on his smartphone.
In 2021, Kimmel’s show shed announcer Dicky Barrett because the musician refused to take the COVID-19 vaccine, per ABC’s orders. Did Kimmel fight on his behalf? That remains unknown. He did not, however, fight for him in the public space, that’s for sure.
Kimmel’s COVID-19 commentary could be callous, if not downright cruel. When worries surfaced about having enough hospital beds to treat sick Americans, Kimmel suggested those who didn’t take the vaccine <a href="https://www.yahoo.com/news/jimmy-kimmel-says-unvaccinated-people-140553383.html">should be shut out</a>.
<blockquote>That choice doesn&#8217;t seem so tough to me … Vaccinated person having a heart attack? Yes, come right on in. We&#8217;ll take care of you. Unvaccinated guy who gobbled horse goo? Rest in peace, wheezy.</blockquote>
He also <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2020/04/jimmy-kimmel-coronavirus-protesters?srsltid=AfmBOorWrhw2rxRug6RyhOhwbZhnH5gg-uhaeltINk2VUx55WZjwz9Xj">mocked ordinary Americans</a> who protested the extreme lockdowns that threatened to shutter their homegrown businesses for good.
Later, when Fox News showed Tucker Carlson the door in 2024, Kimmel danced on the <a href="https://x.com/mazemoore/status/1968502145788809291">conservative’s professional grave</a>.
<blockquote>Tucker couldn’t be reached for comment. He’s already on a plane to Moscow to meet with his manager.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
2023. Jimmy Kimmel celebrates Tucker Carlson getting fired from Fox. <a href="https://t.co/KkvVRc4At6">pic.twitter.com/KkvVRc4At6</a>
— MAZE (@mazemoore) <a href="https://twitter.com/mazemoore/status/1968502145788809291?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 18, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Credit: @mazemoore/X.com
Perhaps his most egregious act as a so-called comedian came when he hosted a fundraiser for then-President Joe Biden last year. That move shredded whatever remained of his fair-and-balanced pose, but he made things much worse after the fact.
The fundraiser showed President Biden freezing up during the finale. Former President Barack Obama had to gently guide the addled leader off the stage. The moment was caught on video. We all saw it, and most already knew that Biden’s cognitive state was in question.
What did Kimmel do after the fact? He seemingly lied to his audience, telling them <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/jimmy-kimmel-biden-fundraiser-lie/">they couldn’t trust their eyes.</a>
Kimmel isn’t just a partisan. He’s so hard-Left that he greeted President Trump’s re-election last year with <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/jimmy-kimmel-literally-cries-over-trump-win-suggests-trump-voters-are-stupid">the tears of a former clown</a>.
<blockquote>[The election] was a terrible night for women, for children, for the hundreds of thousands of hard-working immigrants who make this country go, for health care, for our climate, for science, for journalism, for justice, for free speech.</blockquote>
A few months later, he made light of fellow progressives <a href="https://nypost.com/2025/03/20/media/jimmy-kimmel-gave-marching-orders-to-vandalize-teslas-scott-jennings/">attacking Tesla dealerships</a> over CEO Elon Musk’s political maneuvers.
More recently, he joked that some of his show’s female staffers <a href="https://www.tvinsider.com/1166115/jimmy-kimmel-luigi-mangione-hot-kiiller-monologue-video/">were crushing on Luigi Mangione</a>, the man accused of murdering UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson in cold blood.
Ha ha ha.
Even his infamous Kirk comments came before he mocked President Trump for mourning the wrong way over the younger man’s assassination. Just ghoulish.
Not riddance, Jimmy. Good riddance.
* * *
Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic and editor of <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News’ Big Hollywood. Follow him at <a href="https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">HollywoodInToto.com</a>.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

The Walt Disney Company Emmy Awards Party – Arrivals

Jimmy Kimmel: Cancellation And Consequences

Charlie Kirk

Jimmy Kimmel

Leftists

Trump Derangement Syndrome

Jimmy Kimmel&#8217;s show was suspended indefinitely on Wednesday.
The question is whether that is a result of organic pressure from the crowd, which, if so, is great. I&#8217;m on board.
Jimmy Kimmel is a schmuck. Jimmy Kimmel is the worst. Jimmy Kimmel has been trash for over ten years.
Jimmy Kimmel was the funny guy who used to tell jokes, going all the way back to his days on KROQ 106.7 in Los Angeles. When I was in high school, I was listening to &#8220;Kevin and Bean in the Morning&#8221; because my carpool mates refused to listen to anything else. Jimmy Kimmel was “The Sports Guy,” and he was funny and obviously very talented.
And then Kimmel somehow became a late-night host. He then decided it was incumbent upon him to become, as my friend Guy Benson has said,  the “Woke Pope of Late Night.” He would lecture you every night and be incredibly d***ish all the time.
That was his shtick. He would go on TV and lecture you and be terrible.
There are numerous times that Jimmy Kimmel should have been canceled, where he said things that were so egregious, terrible, and gross that he should have been done.
By the standards of the modern woke media, they should&#8217;ve just dug up his old stuff and gone after him. There&#8217;s old tape from “The Man Show with Adam Carolla” of Jimmy Kimmel simulating groping a woman without her permission and mimicking having sex with her from behind without her knowledge.
That didn&#8217;t get him canceled.
Jimmy Kimmel dressed up in blackface, back in the day. He dressed up as NBA star Karl Malone in blackface. That didn&#8217;t get him canceled.
Forget about his old stuff. He didn&#8217;t get canceled for saying on the air that people should die in hospitals if they took Ivermectin for COVID, stating, “Doctor Fauci said that if hospitals get any more overcrowded, they&#8217;re going to have to make some very tough choices about who gets an ICU &#8230; that choice didn&#8217;t seem so tough to me. Vaccinated person having a heart attack? Yes, come right on and we’ll take care of ya. Unvaccinated guy who gobbled horse goo? Rest in peace, Wheezy.” 
I&#8217;m very happy to see Jimmy Kimmel go, for whatever reason. He was a horror show. His morality is completely backward. His obvious, dripping disdain and hatred for anyone who disagrees with him are perfectly clear and have been clear every night for years. No one could more richly deserve being taken off the air than Jimmy Kimmel.
The question is whether the federal government had anything to do with him being taken off the air. Policy cannot be a blunderbuss.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/bss-ep-2283?contentProgram=The%20Ben%20Shapiro%20Show&amp;contentType=ShowEpisode&amp;elementPosition=2&amp;location=Home%20Tab&amp;row=0&amp;rowType=Home%20Featured%20Carousel">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h3>
Charlie Kirk was killed while advocating for free speech. He was killed while engaging in political debate. And one of the legacies that Charlie Kirk left us with is the necessity for such political debate, the necessity for free speech.
Again, that doesn&#8217;t mean speech without consequences. It means the necessity for debate. And what that requires is that the government not be involved, for example, in shutting down free debate.
So the question with regard to Kimmel is whether this is an organic outgrowth of natural outrage over Jimmy Kimmel, or whether it was forced by the federal government.
Kimmel had said in his monologue: “We had some new lows over the weekend, with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them, and doing everything they can to score political points from and in between the finger pointing.”
By the time that Kimmel broadcast this on Monday night, it was perfectly clear that it was not true. We all knew. All the evidence shows that the shooter murdered Charlie because the shooter was in a gay relationship with a trans-furry, and had decided that Charlie was hateful because Charlie said that men were not women, etc.
We knew that already. So was Kimmel lying? I believe Kimmel knew he was lying.
I also know that there are a bunch of delusional people on the Left who are trying to pretend that either the shooter had no political motivations at all, which is totally crazy, or that the shooter was MAGA, which is even crazier.
Perhaps in his own head, Kimmel was part of that delusional crew who thought that because the shooter grew up in a MAGA house, that meant he was MAGA, despite the fact that all the evidence shows he was anything but.
So the question is whether these local affiliates canceled Kimmel because they were upset with him, or they canceled Kimmel because they came under pressure from the FCC. 
Nexstar ABC put out a statement:
<blockquote>Nexstar Media Group, Inc. (NASDAQ: NXST), today announced that the company’s owned and partner television stations affiliated with the ABC Television Network will preempt Jimmy Kimmel Live! for the foreseeable future, beginning with tonight’s show. Nexstar strongly objects to recent comments made by Mr. Kimmel concerning the killing of Charlie Kirk and will replace the show with other programming in its ABC‑affiliated markets. &#8230; Continuing to give Mr. Kimmel a broadcast platform in the communities we serve is simply not in the public interest at the current time, and we have made the difficult decision to preempt his show in an effort to let cooler heads prevail as we move toward the resumption of respectful, constructive dialogue. </blockquote>
The question is, was that natural, or was that a result of the fact that Nexstar is currently trying to push a $6.2 billion merger through FCC scrutiny and the fact that the FCC chair, Brendan Carr, seemingly threatened action against Kimmel, ABC, and Disney?
I like Brendan Carr. But the FCC should not be threatening action against ABC or its affiliates or Disney based on Jimmy Kimmel being a jackass. He&#8217;s been a jackass his entire career.
Social censure is perfectly appropriate. The blowback from the public is totally natural and good because Jimmy Kimmel is a schmuck who should have been taken off the air ten years ago.
But I do not want the FCC in the business of telling local affiliates that their licenses will be removed if they broadcast material that the FCC deems to be false.
Why? Because one day the shoe will be on the other foot. I know that we&#8217;ve gotten out of the habit of this. I know that a lot of people on the Right are saying, “The shoe will never be on the other foot, and if it is, the Left will just do it anyway.”
But preemptively breaking things because you believe that the Left is going to break the things still makes the things broken — and you can&#8217;t unbreak them. 
I&#8217;m an advocate of the idea that things that are not yet broken probably should not be.
If we are now in a world where we&#8217;re going to preemptively break the plate because we believe that the bad guy is going to break the plate, all the plates are going to get broken. And regardless of what you do, that&#8217;s going to get used against you. The shards will be used as weapons against you. I promise you, if the FCC is removing local affiliate licenses or threatening to do so, based on Jimmy Kimmel being a jackass, the next time a Democrat is elected, which will happen sooner or later, you will say the FCC should not be involved in this sort of stuff.
I&#8217;m not saying Kimmel shouldn&#8217;t be taken off the air.
I&#8217;m not saying the social sanction shouldn&#8217;t have forced him off the air.
I&#8217;m not saying any of these local affiliates shouldn&#8217;t have said they don&#8217;t want to air Kimmel’s show anymore.
I&#8217;m saying they should have done all that ten years ago. If, best case scenario, the public forces the local affiliates to react and take him off the air, totally legit.
But I do not like that the FCC muddied the waters here. I think it is bad politics, and I think it is bad policy. Because if Democrats win the presidency and you get a Democrat in charge of the FCC, you know which affiliates are going to get threatened.
Let the public be outraged, and let the public outrage organically drive for Kimmel’s ouster.
Legally, you&#8217;ve muddied the waters on First Amendment grounds in much the same way that the Biden administration was threatening Facebook with consequences if it did not remove certain material. 
If you wish to hand power back to the Democrats, what you do here is overreach or at least create the perception of overreach.
So two things can be true at once: I’m very, very happy that Jimmy Kimmel is off the air. He is a schmuck. He&#8217;s the worst. Don&#8217;t let the door hit him on the way out.
But also, the government should not be muddying the waters.
If they do, they put themselves at risk of significant overreach, and that could come back to haunt us.

UCLA Jonsson Cancer Center Foundation’s 28th Annual Taste For A Cure

Glad Kimmel’s Gone. But Don’t Overreach.

Ben Shapiro

2025 Creative Arts Emmy Awards

Jimmy Kimmel Defamed Charlie Kirk And His Supporters. Now He’s Off The Air. Good Riddance.

Democrats

George Soros

Matt Walsh

While most of Hollywood had total meltdowns over “Jimmy Kimmel Live” being pulled from the air “indefinitely,” actor James Woods made some comparisons to how the Left has treated “cancel culture” in the past.
“Remember when Twitter’s Jack Dorsey banned the President of the United States from the world’s biggest forum during an election? Screw Jimmy Kimmel,” Woods wrote alongside a link to a Rolling Stone article from 2023, titled “Why Cancel Culture is Good for Democracy” by Ernest Owens.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet">
Remember when Twitter’s Jack Dorsey banned the President of the United States from the world’s biggest forum during an election?
Screw Jimmy Kimmel. <a href="https://t.co/H6iNpenWo6">pic.twitter.com/H6iNpenWo6</a>
— James Woods (@RealJamesWoods) <a href="https://twitter.com/RealJamesWoods/status/1968485080419963156?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 18, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The piece details how “cancel culture” is useful because it has “leveled the playing field for those who can’t always rely on the government to protect them.”
“Cancel culture is the poison to those in power that have benefited from unchecked free speech,” the author goes on, addressing the “straight, white men” he insists are in charge. Woods uses this article to point out how the tables have turned, and how the liberals who are so used to dominating popular culture and the media, saying whatever they want without consequence, are now unhappy to play by their own rules.
“Those who fear cancel culture may claim they fear suppression of speech, but it’s accountability that they want to avoid,” Owens observes in the Rolling Stone piece.
Many other conservatives have highlighted this double standard, pointing to people on the Right who were fired or silenced for voicing their opinions in the past. Roseanne Barr, Gina Carano, Megyn Kelly, and others were all brought up as examples.
“Roseanne had the highest rated show on television when she made a Twitter joke and was immediately fired by Disney. Gina Carano had the most popular show on streaming when she shared a social post and was immediately fired by Disney. Everyone on the left cheered,” Clay Travis <a href="https://x.com/ClayTravis/status/1968664973820711115">noted</a> on X.
Many people also pointed out that Kimmel&#8217;s monologue was far worse than what conservatives had been penalized for.
The comments from Kimmel that prompted the backlash included the host claiming that Kirk’s assassin was a MAGA supporter. Investigators say that the 22-year-old man arrested for Kirk’s killing was deeply steeped in leftist ideology and disliked the conservative commentator for his beliefs.
“We hit some new lows over the weekend with the MAGA gang desperately trying to characterize this kid who murdered Charlie Kirk as anything other than one of them and doing everything they can to score political points from it,” Kimmel said. This prompted Sinclair, one of the largest broadcast companies in the United States, to suspend “Jimmy Kimmel Live” until further notice.
Daily Wire podcast host Matt Walsh summed up how most conservatives felt about the situation.
“Jimmy Kimmel lied about Charlie’s assassination and used the opportunity to defame Charlie’s own friends and allies. He deserves to be fired for it,” he <a href="https://x.com/mattwalshblog/status/1968504811487211662?s=43">wrote</a> on X. “These are the repercussions that conservatives have been experiencing for years for infractions not nearly as egregious. Good riddance, Kimmel, you disgusting scumbag.”

Woods and Kimmel

Actor James Woods Makes Excellent Point About Kimmel Cancellation

James Woods

U.S.

We&#8217;ve known for a very long time in this country that if you said the wrong thing about the trans issue, you could be canceled.
But now, finally, there are people — heretofore on the Left — who are acknowledging that the threat of cancellation has been real.
This is just one of the beautiful flowering fruits of the Trump administration: people are now free to say things they weren’t allowed to say before.
It’s not clear whether people are deciding that they want to say what is currently more popular or if they genuinely repent having been bullied into acceptance of the trans agenda.
On Wednesday, Malcolm Gladwell, a famous bestselling author, explained his amended point of view on transgender athletes, meaning men playing against women in sports. He was speaking specifically about a 2022 appearance at the MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, where he moderated a panel discussion in which they talked about the path forward for the inclusion of trans athletes in sports, meaning men competing against women.
On Wednesday, Gladwell stated to 2022 panel co-host Ross Tucker, &#8220;I’m ashamed of my performance at that panel because I share your position 100%, and I was cowed. The idea of saying anything on this issue — I was, I believe in retrospect — in a dishonest way, I was objective in a dishonest way.”
That is honest. Many people were so scared of saying what was obviously true that they didn&#8217;t say it.
This happens all the time in politics. It happened in Great Britain during the Rotherham grooming scandal, when members of the media specifically decided not to cover the fact that there were Muslim grooming gangs, Muslim men, who were grooming underage white girls for sex and then passing them around.
People in the media knew about this, and they decided not to say anything, because to say something would have resulted in censure and public opprobrium as well as people in power suggesting that you were somehow in league with the Right.
And for a very long time in this country and the UK, being in league with the Right was code for being thrown out of public life.
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/ep-2273-unspoken-truths-on-trans-can-now-be-said?elementPosition=1&amp;row=2&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel">WATCH: The Ben Shapiro Show</a></h3>
I don&#8217;t believe that every view is equivalent. I&#8217;m not a moral relativist. I don&#8217;t believe that we should take every view with equal seriousness. I do think that there is an Overton window, meaning the arena of valuable discussion.
The problem is that the Left shut the Overton window so much that if you disagreed with the Left and fundamentally true principles such as “men are not women,” they would throw you out.
So, for many members of the Right, the question becomes: what do you do when Malcolm Gladwell says something like this? What do you do?
The answer is you probably should offer forgiveness. You probably should offer some form of generosity. While you can make the argument that what Gladwell did was cowardly, it’s more about the insane echo chamber that exists in so many of our elite spaces.
The reality is, if you said what Malcolm Gladwell now says in 85% of the country, you&#8217;d be totally fine; it is the mainstream view.
But if you were in the elite circles in which Malcolm Gladwell travels, you would have lost your social standing. You might have lost your job; people would stop reviewing your books. There was a real risk attached.
It is a credit to President Trump and the American people that the Overton window has been opened again. The American people didn’t want to do this anymore. They were done.
That’s not true in Great Britain, where cancel culture has been enshrined in government policy.
What prevents that from happening in the United States is not our magical adherence to First Amendment principles as a people. Unfortunately, there are many, many people in the United States who — if they had the opportunity —would vote to curb free speech. If you look at the polls of young people, young people overwhelmingly believe that hate speech should trump free speech. According to many polls, young people believe there should be legal limits on the kinds of speech one should be allowed to say out loud.
What protects us is the structure of the Constitution. It is the fact that the Constitution bars Congress from doing what the British government is doing in Great Britain. And the Supreme Court has made very clear that in deference to the Constitution, free speech must be protected at the highest possible level.
The Founders knew what they were doing.
And President Trump, by opening the Overton window and making it possible for those on the Right to be heard and not canceled, is paying tribute to the Founders in the best possible way.

Audible’s The Unusual Suspects With Kenya Barris And Malcolm Gladwell Live With Brené Brown – 2025 SXSW Conference And Festival

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