By: Courtney Suber & Veronica Kogan
These days everyone has an opinion on this weird and wild internet phenomenon coined as “cancel culture.” At a time in the early 2010’s this term was confined to Tumblr and Twitter, both flourishing social media platforms that boast a whopping 812 million when combined with one another. Through Tumblr and Twitter (as well as other social media sights) a specific culture has been created… a culture where individuals are expected to be perfect. Airbrushed to perfection, skinny teas in hand, and face full of Botox always at service. This expectation of impeccability is not limited to only phenotype, but moral code and virtuousness as well. The standard of morality and godliness varies from site to site, but one thing that’s sure is that people feel obligated to conform to this standard, usually out of fear of being outcasted or even worse: dog-piled.
On these websites there is a tendency for those who often don’t agree with the masses to be turned on, or if an individual does something seen as controversial or against the grain. This is cancel culture, and in copious instances it’s seen as excessive or selective, and has been condemned and shamed. Even two former presidents (Barack Obama and Donald Trump) have criticized the gigantic monster that is groupthink/cancel culture. But are there instances where being “canceled” was warranted?
Pro cancellation: Courntey Suber 
Against cancellation: Veronica Kogan
Courtney Suber: Cancel culture is warranted:
I would argue that there instances where being “canceled” was warranted. The perfect example of this is the cancelation of tiktoker, Emma Lu. Known as emmuhlu on the platform, Lu was a well-known keyboard activist and the so called “queen of the barbs,” which originates from rapper Nicki Minaj’s fanbase name, “barbies.” . She was known for posting content pertaining to the Black Lives Matter movement that was beginning to gain steam during her time on the site. On the outside Emma Lu seemed like an individual who was openly using their platform to support those in marginalized groups and circles which in itself is not wrong. However though, she was somewhat of a cancel culture warrior who actively led hate campaigns against fellow tiktokers like NickVideos because she did not agree with his politics. Lu even accused him of using a derogatory slur and actively tried to get him kicked out of his college despite her not having any proof to back up this accusation at the time. Considering what she was later exposed for herself, it can be interpreted that she may have been projecting.
In April 2020, Lu was exposed for using racially charged language, the very language that she accused others of using. She was seen on video multiple times using the ‘n-slur’ seemingly for shock value and what she may of perceived as humor. At a first glance this may not seem “cancel-worthy” because she did not use the slurs in a derogatory way or specifically towards a targeted group of people, but this was just the beginning of the controversy. After these videos began to flood the internet, another video of the tiktoker surfaced. This video contained her saying the following: “Everyone f—king die!” and laughing, she says “N—–s. There’s n—–s all over the place.” What bothered many was that she yelled this at a group of black people, and videoed it. Emma was quick to jump to her own defense and to claim that the videos were quite old. Whether the videos were old or not, her language as well as actions were directly contradictory to what she claims to stand for as well as just plain derogatory and disgusting. Rapper Cardi B even called her out on her revolting behavior, and if Cardi B of all people is calling you out… you know you’ve messed up.
She lost followers in masse and was later essentially exiled from the internet. In many scenarios cancel culture can be invalidated and even taken on as targeted harassment, but in this case as well as others the “cancelation” from the moral body that governs on the internet was well deserved.
Veronica Kogan: Cancel culture should be cancelled!
Cancel culture has spread throughout the entertainment industry, taking down one career after another. Nowadays, people see a two-second video on TikTok as court-level evidence and immediately initiate an attack on everything a man holds dear. It doesn’t matter if it’s a ridiculous tweet that had been posted 15 years ago by a still immature kid. It only matters that it fits a certain narrative.
Not only that, but many of those who currently spout intentionally malicious rhetoric through entertainment platforms are left either untouched or with only a small scrape on their career, just because defending the subject of their hate is not “in” at the moment. This is especially true regarding anti-Semitic rhetoric. Take, for example, Nick Cannon. Among other jobs in the entertainment industry, Cannon had a podcast called “Cannon’s Class.” In one particularly abhorrent episode, Cannon invited Richard “Professor Griff” Griffith, a rapper known for spouting anti-Semitic rhetoric such as “the Jews are wicked. We can prove this,” as a guest. During their ironic conversation about racial bias, Cannon stated, “When we are the same people who they want to be. That’s our birthright. We are the true Hebrews,” meaning that black people were the true Hebrews and that Jews had stolen their identity. They then agreed that those without melanin are “a little less,” adding that groups including Jewish people, white people, and Europeans were savages. To add the icing on the cake, Cannon called Professor Griff “a legend” for his past anti-Semitic comments.
Cannon was fired from Viacom CBS when this episode was released in July 2020 based on his promotion of anti-Semitic conspiracy theories and overall hateful rhetoric regarding non-black people. However, what is truly appalling is the fact that FOX decided to keep Cannon as host for the popular TV show “Masked Singer,” stating that his public apology was enough for them. Cannon has since continued to host for the show, disappearing for a few episodes of the 2021 season due to a positive COVID test. My question is: where were the hounds of cancel culture then? This is not a case of “oh, that was a tweet from 12 years ago.” He spouted hateful rhetoric less than a year ago, and he’s the one who gets to walk, just because the subjects were Jews and non-blacks? Now THAT is problematic.
Another story I’d like to bring to your attention is the cancelling of Chris Pratt. Chris Pratt is a well-known actor, starring in “Parks and Recreation,” “Guardians of the Galaxy,” and most importantly in this case, “The Avengers” movie series. During Joe Biden’s presidential campaign late in 2020, an opportunity was offered to fans of “The Avengers” to meet (virtually) the stars of the movie series—as long as they contributed to Biden’s campaign. Chris Pratt, for unknown reasons, did not attend the meet ‘n greet, and that’s when the cancel hounds picked up his sent.
The attention began when Amy Berg, an American filmmaker, posted pictures of four actors named Chris—Pratt, Chris Pine, Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth—with the caption “one has to go.” Commenters immediately bashed Pratt, calling him a MAGA supporter for not attending the Biden-supporting meet ‘n greet and even attacking his religious beliefs as a Christian and attendee of a supposedly anti-LGBTQ church. Pratt had already dealt with accusations that his church was anti-LGBTQ in the previous year and had posted about the openness and kind nature of his church during his divorce, an act forbidden by the Bible, as well as in other situations regardless of sexual orientation, gender, or race. However, his cancellers didn’t seem to care much about his statements, focusing completely on baseless assumptions about his beliefs.
There are a few things that bother me about the Chris Pratt situation. First of all, how does an absence from an event, even a political one, automatically signal a political statement? Pratt is a busy actor with an understandably busy schedule—what if he just couldn’t make it to the meet ‘n greet? It’s bizarre that people are allowed to come after someone’s career based on a jump to conclusions. Those are the people with openly malicious intent and are the ones who should be in the cancel chair instead of being the ones flipping the switch. Second of all, if Pratt chooses to keep his political opinions private and is in fact not supportive of Biden, who’s to say he’s automatically a Trump supporter? People’s political beliefs nowadays are far from black and white. And third of all, if Pratt happens to be a Trump supporter, I find it appalling that the same people who blast him for non-acceptance of the LGBTQ community find it “loving of all humans” to outcast him for his own values. Luckily for Pratt, his Avenger co-stars came to his defense—but I shudder to think of how many similar celebrities had their careers ruined and were left without defenders just because their cancellers gained more traction.
To compare our viewpoints on cancelation we’ve decided to examine one Youtube superstar who never seems to be knocked off his podium: Jeffree Star.
Jeffree Star has done many controversial things over the course of his more than a decade long vocation but despite this and his failed music career during the myspace era, he still boasts a sizable 16.5 million followers on Youtube. Many will claim that Jeffree Star can’t be canceled, and that he’s bigger than this big boogeyman nicknamed “cancel culture,” but I beg to differ. Jeffree Star cannot be canceled by his fans, but can be side-eyed by the general public. Regular people are not purchasing Star’s makeup or funding his luxurious lifestyle, they’re simply ignoring his presence on the internet. The debacle with individuals like Star is that he has a large fanbase that will still support him whether he is canceled or not.
So should people continue to cry for Jeffree Star’s ultimate cancellation? From what I’ve seen on the internet, the majority see through Star’s BS and take any information he says with a heaping tablespoon of salt. In this case, the only people he “influences” are his die-hard fans–those who understand his problematic streak but turn the other cheek. Those people support his youtube channel and his makeup company. Further cancellation, in my opinion, seems futile–if Star’s toxicity has been exposed to the world and sides have been taken, is there anything left to prove?
Sources:
https://www.statista.com/topics/2463/tumblr/
