Cancel Culture

Prior to starting, I'd like to let every reader know, that this written piece is only for informational & educational purposes. I will be citing my sources & going based on facts. There will be a portion where I give my PERSONAL OPINION on Cancel Culture. However, all other portions will be based on factual evidence. Please take this into consideration before taking anything the wrong way. - Maãlík


Intro

         Cancel Culture. A choice of words that has been used heavily in our modern world by the masses. It has many faces: Accountability. Bullying. Misunderstanding. Personal Attacks. Boycotting. So on & so forth. But what is the TRUE meaning behind Cancel Culture? Why does it exist? What are the consequences of being cancelled? Most importantly: Can a person bounce back & thrive after being cancelled? I plan to answer all these questions, & give the reader a clearer understanding of what this is & why it exists.

The Meaning of Cancel Culture

         The literal definition of Cancel Culture is "the practice or tendency of engaging in mass canceling, as a way of expressing disapproval and exerting social pressure." (Merriam-Webster)

         Perhaps one of the earliest forms of Cancel Culture happened in 2014 when "the official Twitter account of the Comedy Central show “The Colbert Report” posted a joke that could be taken as a denigration of Asians, and the activist Suey Park responded with the hashtag #CancelColbert — only to end up getting doxxed and canceled herself, with so much vitriol directed her way that she fled her home and started communicating with burner phones." (Mishan, 2020)

         As we can see, even in the earliest events, cancel culture can have negative effects on the person trying to cancel the original oppressor. (More on this sentence, later.) Cancel Culture can be seen as a way to hold a person accountable. When an individual has made decisions or said things that could possibly damage their credibility and reputation, individuals of the common masses will come together to get that person socially dragged down. Cancel Culture has many negative effects. On the same coin, Cancel Culture has very beneficial effects. I plan to go into both effects, as well as go into 3 examples of how Cancel Culture affected 3 very prominent celebrities.

Example 1: Tory Lanez vs Megan Thee Stallion

         Tory Lanez (Daystar Peterson) is a Singer, Songwriter, Rapper, Video Editor, & Producer. He was born & raised in Brampton, Ontario, Canada. He has moved around to several different parts of the U.S., as his father is a Missionary Preacher who went around preaching all over the world. For several years, Tory has worked hard to break into the music industry, & finally broke through in 2015. He was signed to Mad Love & Interscope records for 5 years, & got out of his record deal in February of 2020. He was on his rise to super stardom, until an incident on July 12th, 2020, where he & another famous rapper: Megan Thee Stallion, got arrested in California at the dead of night.

         Megan Thee Stallion (Megan Pete) is a Rapper. She was born in San Antonio, Texas. Megan Thee Stallion started truly rapping seriously in 2013 at her college university. "She took part in battles, and her freestyles found success online." (Megan Thee Stallion - Songs, Savage & Height, 2021) Over the next 5 years, she began to drop mixtapes & EP's, until she took flight in 2019 with her infamous song "Hot Girl Summer". This success only began to heighten during 2020 with her famous song "WAP" with Cardi B. The same incident that happened on July 12th, 2020, happened to affect her directly. Megan was seen limping backwards towards the police. Her foot was bleeding profusely. She was promptly admitted to the hospital. At first, she stated that she stepped on glass. Days later after the event, she said that she was shot in both her feet. However, she was seen at the club, being able to walk & dance effortlessly. Everything changed a month later.

         "On August 20, 2020, Megan Thee Stallion claimed that Tory Lanez was the gunman who shot her in the foot following a July 12, 2020, pool party at Kylie Jenner’s house — the first time she had publicly identified him, or anyone, as her shooter." (Haylock, 2020) This allegation caused a global uproar on the internet for Tory Lanez. All of the musical distribution platforms started to take him off of play listing for new music. Lots of artists started to distance themselves from working with him. Kehlani, a very famous Singer & Songwriter, removed Tory from her song "Can I" on her deluxe album following the incident. In her own words: “This situation was involving someone that I’m extremely close to, so I just felt like on some loyal shit and on some do the right thing, you have to be responsible. Absolutely I’m changing up the record. It was business and it was also loyalty to a situation. This is not an industry friendship. That’s really my friend and someone I say ‘I love you’ too.” (Lynch, 2020) To add insult to injury, Tory was publicly dragged throughout the entirety of the internet via Twitter, journalist blogs, & radio shows.

         This is Cancel Culture in full effect. From the very start, the campaign to end Tory Lanez's career from shooting Megan Thee Stallion had proven successful. Even without full evidence, Tory Lanez was guilty in the eyes of the public. Another effect that seemed to happen, was being guilty by association. Anyone who associated with Tory in a positive light, was slandered by the public. Especially by Megan Thee Stallion's supporters. Rapper DaBaby was featured in a song with Tory Lanez called "Skat" in 2021. Just being on this song got DaBaby bashed for "making music with a man who shoots women.". During July 25th, 2021, DaBaby brought out Tory Lanez to perform with him at the Rolling Loud event in Miami, Florida. Ironically, Megan Thee Stallion happened to be there. The court issued a restraining order against Lanez, stating that he was not to be within a certain amount of distance from Megan Thee Stallion. Along with his own controversial statements during Rolling Loud, this seemed to have public backlash for DaBaby. This trend of ostracizing a person from groups for associating with Tory Lanez continued publicly.

         Fortunately for those who support Megan, & unfortunately for those who support Tory, he was found guilty of 3 charges on December 23, 2022. Assault with a semiautomatic firearm, carrying a loaded, unregistered firearm in a vehicle, & discharging a firearm with gross negligence. In this instance, could we say that Cancel Culture succeeded? Or is this just the beginning for Tory's journey into rebuilding himself? I would leave that to the public to decide. Overall, the damage that this single incident did to his music career is irreversible.

Example 2: Michael Jackson vs Child Abuse Allegations

         One of the biggest artists to ever have lived, Michael Jackson was a cultural icon. Dubbed as "The true King of Pop, Rock, & Soul." (Why Michael Jackson Is Known as the King of Pop, n.d.) by Elizabeth Taylor during the 1989 Soul Train Awards, Michael Jackson performed & made music since he was 5 years old. He has the biggest selling album of all time: Thriller. This album has sold over 70 million copies all over the world. He dominated the 80's with "Off The Wall", "Thriller", & "Bad". His "Bad World Tour" is "the second highest grossing tour of 1988. When the tour concluded it grossed a total of $125 million, adding two new entries in the Guinness World Records for the largest grossing tour in history and the tour with the largest attended audience." (Bad World Tour, n.d.)

         However, in 1993, Michael Jackson was accused of child molestation. The main culprit was a young 13 year old boy, whose name shall not be mentioned in this documentary. This was during the end of the first leg of his "Dangerous World Tour", with plans for a second leg. A lawsuit was filed by the family of the same 13 year old boy, alleging that Jackson committed repeated sexual battery. The criminal charges filed were dropped, however, as the "primary alleged victim declined to testify." (Tsioulcas, 2019) In December of 1993, his own sister, Latoya Jackson, went on a public smear campaign against her brother. She claimed all the allegations were true. Jackson's house was raided in 1993, in an attempt to find physical evidence that would aid in finding him guilty of the charges pressed against him.

         As we can see, this is one of the earliest examples of Cancel Culture prior to technology really taking off. Not only was Michael Jackson publicly slandered with little to no evidence, he was also used as a comedic muse for future stand up material. Several endorsement deals that Jackson made were cancelled. This included his Pepsi endorsement deal, which he had for over 10 years at that point. The news was already dragging him, & the allegations only gave more fuel to the fire. In 1995, Michael Jackson was interviewed on Primetime with his wife, Lisa Marie Presley. He was asked several times about the child abuse allegations, to which he constantly denied it being anything sexual of the sort. (Link to the video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H5xxK7ad-zg) On March 1st, 1996, Jackson was interrogated by the police regarding the allegations. (Link to the video of the interrogation: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YVYDtRyKuDc)

         The repeated court date appearances, along with the media slander, started to effect Jackson's health. He would rarely eat; would often collapse from the stress of court once he got to his home. During 2005, Michael Jackson spent nearly a year living in Bahrain "after his acquittal on child abuse charges in the U.S." (Jackson’s Sanctuary in Gulf Kingdom Short-Lived - CNN.com, n.d.) This gave him time to heal from all of the controversy that surrounded him after the end of the court trial. Michael Jackson unfortunately died on June 25th, 2009. Although Cancel Culture continues to try to slander his name, Michael Jackson seemed to be one of the many celebrities to seemingly beat it. Millions upon millions of fans continued to support Michael Jackson throughout the entire ordeal; Even to this day, there are fans that have never been able to be around Jackson during his time alive, but are in love with his music. Not only that, but his heart & soul, as well. I would say Cancel Culture only succeeded in their attempt to destroy Jackson's spirit, as he was extremely weak during his final tour that would've likely killed him of exhaustion, alone.

Example 3: Will Smith vs Chris Rock

         Will Smith is a very well known actor in the entertainment industry. He's famous for his outstanding acting skills in movies such as: "The Pursuit of Happiness", The "Bad Boys" series, "Men in Black", "Shark Tale", "Hitch", and so on. Born on 1968, he comes from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He started off rapping in high school. His music was a very clean, positive hip-hop style that earned him a Grammy. Fun fact: Will Smith was the first rapper to win "the first Grammy ever presented in the rap performance category.". (The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica, 2018) Over his long career, Smith has had a successful sitcom known as "The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air", "Smith has been nominated for five Golden Globe Awards, two Academy Awards, and has won four Grammy Awards." (Will Smith - Biography, n.d.) Will Smith is married to Jada Pinkett Smith. They have been married for over 25 years, and have two children together: Jaden & Willow Smith. This will be important for later.

         Chris Rock is a well known Comedian & Actor. He's considered by Rolling Stone to be one of the best stand-up comedians of all time. Born in 1965, Rock grew up in Brooklyn, New York. Rock got his start by working various minimum wage jobs, whilst performing stand-up at various comedy clubs in New York City. He was discovered by Eddy Murphy, who started to mentor him. This connection also landed him his first film role in "Beverly Hills Cop II". Through the 80's, he continued to perform stand up whilst acting. He started to break through in the 90's with various stand up specials such as: "Born Suspect", "Big A** Jokes", & "Bring The Pain". The third comedy special saw his big break that he waited for. Afterwards, his comedy & acting career began to take off. It was his television series, "Everybody Hates Chris", that drew the critical acclaim for his executive directing. The show became "the second most-watched comedy on UPN". (Chris Rock: One of America’s Funniest Comedians, 2023) The American Film Instituted named his show "one of the best 10 television shows of 2007". Chris Rock has hosted the Grammy awards on several occasions; The 94th Academy Awards is where he would see one of the most infamous moments in television history.

         On March 27th, 2022, Chris Rock was hosting the 94th Academy Awards. This was being filmed live all over the world. Will Smith, along with his wife, attended the awards. Rock, being a comedian, made his introduction jokes before showcasing the nominees for each award. During this introduction, Rock made a joke aimed towards Pinkett Smith: "Jada, I love you. G.I. Jane 2, can't wait to see it." This joke was a reference towards Pinkett Smith being bald headed, as the main character of the movie in question was bald, as well. Jada Pinkett Smith is diagnosed with Alopecia: an autoimmune disease that causes hair loss. Pinkett Smith has been dealing with this disease for over several years; She's talked about it on her Facebook Watch show: "Red Table Talk". Unfortunately, she did not take kindly to the joke, as the camera showed her rolling her eyes to the joke in question. In response, Will Smith walked up to Chris Rock, slapping him clean in his face. Once Will Smith got back to his seat, he informed Rock to keep his wife's name out of his mouth.

         This slap immediately went global. Various memes were made about Will Smith regarding the slap. It was referenced in various songs in the realms of hip hop & pop culture. Beyond the slap, Smith won Best Actor in his role in "King Richard". However, the Academy condemned Smith, & banned him from future award ceremonies for 10 years. Many fans from both the sides of Smith & Rock came up to arms. Some praised Smith for "standing up for his wife", whilst others condemned him for "acting emotional over a light hearted joke". Supporters of Rock went in defense of him, claiming his actions to be unoffensive. Nevertheless, Smith continued to lose thousands of followers after the incident. Rock began to gain millions of followers, in contrast. Tour tickets also began to rise for Rock as time went on. Will Smith's newest role in the movie "Emancipation" did not receive the critical acclaim that was expected when released. It "received the lowest rotten tomatoes ratings after 'Gemini Man'". (Will Smith Lost a Million Dollars per Month after Chris Rock Oscars Slap - FandomWire, 2023) About a year following the event, Rock brought up the incident in his stand up special, "Selective Outrage". There, he made light of the entire thing, & expressed how much he loved Will Smith. It was merely a joke taken out of context. He also stated how he didn't use the situation to make himself a victim & boost his career, which is why it took him so long to even address it publicly. Rock ended the situation on stage that night on his side, saying he didn't hit back because he was raised by strict parents. "You know what they told me? Don't fight in front of white people!"

The Benefits of Cancel Culture

         As we've seen so many negative connotations of Cancel Culture, we can't ignore that Cancel Culture has its benefits. In a world where the justice system fails to hold individuals accountable for their actions, Cancel Culture allows for marginalized people to seek it. For example: There is a culture of men who are sexually assaulted by women. It is not talked about, nor cared for as opposed to women who are usually given the grace to be legitimate victims of sexual abuse. "The #metoo movement gave innumerable women (and some men) the ability to call out and maybe cancel their countless abusers in a forum where the accusations might be heard and matter." (ProCon.org, 2020) Cancel Culture can give a voice to those who are technically voiceless in such a cold world. Without any sort of financial equity or real authority, a person can be as vulnerable as a small prey in a vast jungle full of apex predators. As stated in the beginning, one of Cancel Culture's many different technical terms, is one known as boycotting. Boycotting is "to engage in a concerted refusal to have dealings with (a person, a store, an organization, etc.) usually to express disapproval or to force acceptance of certain conditions." (Mirriam-Webster) There are a lot of businesses that depend solely on the time, attention, & finances of the public in order to thrive. When that business is truly deprived of that from the general public, it is not too long before that business ceases to exist.

         Cancel Culture also gives respect to those in the general public, as well. Those who are in positions of power can forget how important it is to respect those who are your customers. One of the most prominent individuals in the political world was the 16th president: Abraham Lincoln. He stated, "Nearly all men can stand adversity, but if you want to test a man's character, give him power." There are millions of examples of individuals with power who treat those who are less fortunate in ways that are displeasing. An example of a person who abused their power, would be Tiffany Haddish. Back in 2013, her & a fellow comedian, Aries Spears, participated in a comedy skit titled "Through a pedophile's eyes". This skit involved an unidentified man & woman who were 7 & 14 at the time, respectively. This skit, as you would guess, brought the idea of pedophilia into a comedic light. The young man & woman, referred to as John & Jane Doe, were groomed to perform various sexual tasks. Haddish “coached” the minor in “giving simulated fellatio” while Spears watched, and that the experience made Jane “physically, emotionally, and mentally uncomfortable.” (Ables, 2022)

         This infamous scandal, this abuse of power, being brought to life, costed Tiffany Haddish her entire career. She lost various gigs, bookings, & was denied access to any other business ventures as a result. This is an example of a person being held accountable by Cancel Culture. It's unfortunate that those children, at the time, were exposed to such sexual behaviors at a young age, but justice prevailed for them in the end. It's important to realize that while some individuals may get away with heinous acts, eventually the past will become their down fall, as a result. Cancel Culture is beneficial in this way.

The Negatives of Cancel Culture

         We can't ignore the cons that come with Cancel Culture, however. While Cancel Culture may be a form of boycotting acts of injustice, it also is basically a form of public bullying & harassment. I will use an earlier example of Tory Lanez's situation to further explain. When the situation first started, everyone immediately went to the protection of Megan Thee Stallion. No grace, doubt, or chance to speak was given to Lanez for the situation. Especially when the situation became in actual case. Stallion was free to openly discuss the case, whilst Lanez was given a gag order by the court. This barred him from defending himself, while also giving Stallion free rein to publicly destroy Lanez's reputation. The entire world went against Lanez, without worrying about his side of the story.

         Another example is Kevin Hart's old tweets of "homophobic" jokes being brought to light by the public. In 2010, during his breakout comedy special: "Seriously Funny", Hart made a joke about his son grinding on another little boy. He knocked both of them down to prevent them from doing what he perceived to be homosexual acts on each other. Years later, individuals of the LGBTQ community brought up these tweets & homophobic remarks. Feeling that Hart offended the community, they felt that he owed all the members a public apology. Bear in mind, in 2018, Hart was supposed to host the 2019 Oscars. He stepped down due to the public controversy that he was battling with the LGBT community.

         Whether he was right or wrong in this situation is left to the interpretation of the public. The main point of this is to point out the public harassment & bullying that comes with Cancel Culture. Individuals who are well known are held to the standard of high regards, rarely allowing for human mistakes or growth. In the realms of the entertainment industry, an entertainer can miss out on millions when they're involved in any sort of high level controversy. The reason being, is that brands & endorsement deals want to maintain as many customers & consumers as they can to continue cash flow; If there's a brand or an individual that will hurt or damage their brand by being associated, the former will usually remove themselves from the latter. In Kevin Hart's case, he missed out on the biggest opportunity of his lifetime all due to a few past mistakes. In the end, he ended up issuing several apologies to the LGBT community for his past remarks.

         One important factor to point out, is the herd mentality that comes with Cancel Culture. Very rarely, is the mob that goes after an individual fully informed of all the facts surrounding the situation. It's usually based on defending who they like more. For example: Beyonce, an amazing singer who is married to the hip hop sensation: Jay-Z, has an almost cult like fanbase. These fans, called the BeyHive, are quick to go to the defense of Beyonce, regardless of the situation. During an NBA game in 2019, Nicole Lacob, the wife of Joe Lacob, who owns the NBA team known as the Golden State Warriors, leaned over to talk to Jay-Z, who was sitting in the front row of the game. Beyonce was in between the two, & gave a look that seemed to be one of disapproval for her leaning over to talk to her husband. Her fandom, lacking any actual understanding of what actually happened, started to publicly harass Lacob for her actions. The assumption was that some random woman was trying to flirt with Beyonce's husband. This is indeed bullying in pure form. It also goes into the levels of idealization that individuals have of celebrities. They often place a person with high status on such a high pedestal, that if anyone seemingly offends them, they're immediately up in arms for them.

Survivors of Cancel Culture

         Contrary to popular belief, there ARE individuals who have survived, and even thrived AFTER supposedly being cancelled. These individuals merely pushed forward with their agendas, no matter the amount of vast hate they've received on the internet. I will go into 3 individuals who have survived Cancel Culture:

Chris Brown - Chris Brown is a very talented singer, songwriter, & performer who dominated the early 2000's with his modern pop, soul, & RnB hits. He is often hailed as the closest individual to being on Michael Jackson's level of talent. Though he doesn't see himself that way, he finds it a great honor. Brown was in a relationship with fellow musician, Rihanna back in 2009. The night before the 2009 Grammy Awards, Brown was arrested for assaulting Rihanna after the two got into a physical altercation between one another. "Brown was charged with felony assault and making criminal threats, to which he later pleaded guilty. He was sentenced to five years of probation and 180 days of community labor. The incident sparked widespread media attention and discussion about domestic violence and the responsibility of public figures as role models. Brown and Rihanna have since had an on-and-off relationship and have collaborated on music together, but the details of their personal relationship remain largely private." (Chris Brown Surprised People Still Hate Him for Assaulting Rihanna, Slams Cancel Culture, n.d.) Since the situation, Brown has been publicly slammed by the internet; People still bring up the situation to this day. However, he still makes music, tours, and seemingly has a good relationship with his ex, Rihanna. Rihanna, herself still refers to Brown as the love of her life, & still considers him one of her best friends that she'll always have love for.

Donald Trump - Possibly one of the most infamous politicians in the modern pop culture era, Donald Trump was the president of the United States from January 20th, 2017, to January 20th, 2021. Donald Trump was the at the brunt of a plethora of jokes, rumors, slander, accusations, & overall hate from the entirety of the world. His most infamous scandals, are those of his sexual misconducts with women. Over 26 women accused him of sexual assault. "The majority of accusations leveled against him were made prior to or during his first run for the White House before the #MeToo movement began in full, with some dating as far back as the 1970s." (Snodgrass, n.d.) Regardless of the adversities that the former president faced & continues to face to this day, Trump STILL pursued his endeavors. "Rather, his popularity seemingly flourished in spite of the allegations: He secured more than 74 million votes in 2020, including nearly 45% of all female voters. He continues to tease a 2024 run." (Snodgrass, n.d.)

Louis C.K. - C.K. is a well known Stand-up Comedian & Actor. He is well known for his television show: "Louie". In 2017, multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct, citing that "he used his influence in the industry to take advantage of them. All five alleged that C.K. asked them or forced them to watch him masturbate, with accounts spanning from the mid-1990s to 2005." (Snodgrass, n.d.) This was also during the time the #MeToo movement initially started to take flight, as multiple men were being outed for their misconduct against victims of sexual abuse. Multiple streaming platforms stopped working with C.K., including FX, which is the platform that held his show for many years. "less than a year later, he made his quiet return to live stand-up in August 2018 with a surprise set at a New York City comedy club. Reports from the event offered a preview into C.K.'s impending path to redemption: The audience that night gave him an ovation before he even began speaking." (Snodgrass, n.d.) Since then, C.K. has been selling out local shows, & steadily rejuvenating his stand up career. He even won a Grammy for best comedy album for "Sincerely Louis C.K." back in April 2022.

The World's Opinion on Cancel Culture

         I have interviewed several people to gather information on their thoughts of Cancel Culture. The identities have been withheld in order to reserve their privacy. These are the results of the interviews:

#1 - "You can hold people accountable without scrutinizing them."; "People involve themselves in cancel culture to feel a sense of belonging within a group."

#2 - "#CancelCancelCulture"

#3 - "Cancel culture is necessary at points honestly. If there's a criminal on the internet and he's roaming free something needs to be done. But it gets bad when people cancel just for the sake of it or for stuff that isn't really worth cancellation for."

#4 - "I remember I head of someone who got canceled for just having problems that weren't the exact same as normal as other people with similar problems."

#5 - "My main problem with it is that a lot of the time the internet targets people who just made a mistake or genuinely didn’t know what they were doing was wrong, but when there’s genuinely bad people who don’t care and do horrible things, people don’t care about it so much.
An example is Gabby Hanna, she was in a situation that involved someone passing away and people only responded negatively when Gabby demanded apologies from the tea channels for bringing up the story, but other than that no one really held Gabby accountable for her actions UNTIL she demanded apologies from other people. Or people like Logan Paul, bad people with purposely bad behavior and no one does shit about it. But I’ve seen a video of an autistic kid being tricked into saying the "N" word, and he genuinely didn’t know what it meant but people hope to find his address or some shit. It’s horrible that people online focus on the wrong shit, so cancel culture is fucking stupid a lot of the time."

#6 - "This culture is trying to call everyone names for their weird and evil agendas, it’s fascism to the fullest, we’re raising a culture of grown infants all for a giant agenda. Where good people are silenced, fired, or cast out socially, we’re raising a culture of people that hate hobbies and ways of expression that doesn’t harm anyone. It’s all a big mess."


My Personal Opinion on Cancel Culture

         We truly live in a world where people, with nothing better to do, take pleasure in destroying a person publicly. While I believe that everyone should be held accountable for their actions, going beyond that is highly uncalled for and unnecessary. I've seen famous individuals get death threats, harsh words said about their family, & companies removing their brands due to the heat. In the entertainment industry, the court of public opinion truly effects a person and everyone around them, whether good or bad. There are millions of fans who spend a majority of their time idolizing a celebrity to the point where they feel they can do no wrong. When that same celebrity is casted in a bad light, a vast majority of those same fans will turn on that person. No longer will they attend their concerts, buy their products, and will take great pleasure in publicly demonizing that celebrity every chance they get. Most of the time, the controversy around a celebrity has NOTHING to do with what they do in their field of work. No, most of the controversy revolves around a person's drama. Their personal problems, their relationships, or even how they treat their fans. Everyone is entitled to their opinion, but when that opinion is based off of a personal view of someone, or even a situation that doesn't directly have to do with their work, it falls extremely flat.

         The power of fans is often a double edged sword. On one hand, fans can boost a person to levels of influence & power to the point an individual can truly impact the world the way they see fit. On the other hand, it can have a negative impact, as the fans can cause harm to the icon, other more sane fans, or even themselves. The biggest example being Adolf Hitler, with his influence on the German culture to commit mass genocide against Jewish culture. Another positive example is Michael Jackson in the mid to late 1980's. Jackson's supporters cult like support came from a place of love & support of his music & personality. Hitler's supporters honestly came from a place of violence & superiority over another race/culture. Both of which had negative impacts in the long run: The former for Jackson's privacy & wellbeing, and the latter for generations of Jews. That level of pseudo power can impact an individual on such a harsh level, that it almost seems not worth going into an industry where your money is directly effected by public opinion.

         I often wonder: how would that same person fair with that level of fame & attention? If they had millions seeking after them? If there were lots of people wishing death upon them? If there were people watching their EVERY move? Waiting for a mistake to happen in order to criticize them? Would they be able to handle that level of extreme shaming & bashing? Personally, I only think a few chosen people can handle it. You have to have a high level of mental fortitude to face millions of strangers criticizing you everyday. Especially when the majority of those criticisms are merely assumptions of who you are. I often think about the effects of negative criticism, & how those who've been famous for over 5 plus years are doing mentally? What are they doing to fair against the criticism? What habits & behaviors do they have to fight against cancel culture, when they fall victim to it? One thing's for certain: Eventually, the short attention span of the world will go to the next most popular/dramatic thing to blindly criticize.

The Reality of Cancel Culture

         The very harsh reality of Cancel Culture, is that no one can ever really be "cancelled". As long as a person is willing to strive towards whatever it is they strive for, there will ALWAYS be someone willing to support them. They may not receive the support of an individual whose reputation isn't damaged, but support is still support. Also, businesses & brands will always choose the protection of themselves, over supporting the underdog. There are some brands that will support a person going through controversy, but in truth: ALL brands want to have the support of as many communities as possible. Whether it's the community of LGBT, Black, Asian, Furry, or even Feminism, a brand will want the ability to sell their product to whoever they can. Cancel Culture can be harsh; Business culture can be even harsher when the threat of losing money is possible.

Outro

         As we can see, the effects of Cancel Culture are extremely prominent. This single event spear headed a very hard dent in Will Smith's career. A dent that will be difficult for him to overcome. Cancel Culture also has shown to go to the aid of the victim at hand, if someone is involved. From Chris Rock, to Megan Thee Stallion, to the young 13 year old boy. They were all given the social aid that came from canceling their culprits. Tory Lanez has lost millions of dollars in brand deals, sponsors, & public support from his peers in the music industry. Michael Jackson's trials was the poison that lead to his eventual death in 2009. Cancel Culture is a group of individuals in the common public, whose influence can effect the view of a well known person if their voices are loud enough. There are 2 courts: The court of law, & the court of public opinion. The former effects your freedom, while the latter can effect your reputation. All 3 of the examples I used have had their reputations tarnished due to Cancel Culture taking them down on all known public platforms. Reputation needs to be protected at all costs.

         Whilst Cancel Culture cannot have a direct effect on a person's decisions, it CAN effect a person who does not have mental fortitude. To take it a step further, even if that person is mentally strong, seeing the repeated negative statement said over & over, eventually it'd start to effect them in a way. However, if a person is willing to roll with the punches, & allow the internet to have its attention on the situation for as long as it takes, they'll be able to succeed. It also goes to show that a person who is a very large public figure, will be held to the highest degree possible by the world. Whether it's necessary, or if it's excessive, is truly held at the hands of subjectivity. We can see that Cancel Culture can have both positive & negative effects on an individual. One can only hope that they won't be caught in the clutches of Cancel Culture, as the loss of reputation & privacy is truly a daunting experience. In the end: everyone should be held accountable for their actions if they're truly wrong.

References & Sources (APA Format)

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