We live in an environment where many phrases, words, and actions are not socially acceptable. Through the past years, “Cancel Culture” has found its place to become embedded into people’s minds as a way to stop supporting public figures, celebrities, and anyone of importance. Once someone rises to stardom, many young adults and teenagers dig into his/ hers past to find out if they are worth the fame. Although some may not care, many will still hold that person accountable for their wrongdoings even if it was 10 years ago or if they apologized for it. People with that level of fame are raised on a much bigger scale with high expectations from their fans and audiences. Some could recover from their mistakes, but others get punished for the rest of their lives. Some educate themselves more and learn from their past, while others continue to pursue what’s wrong and act okay with it.
In general, most famous people do not care about getting canceled unless they truly are sorry. For example, Noah Schnapp has recently been getting a ton of backlash and is now “canceled” from society ever since he was seen laughing in a video with his friends passing out stickers that say “Zionism is Sexy” and “Hamas is ISIS”. Although everyone is very disappointed and disgusted with him, it clearly does not matter to him, as he has not spoken up about the controversy. In fact, he has not faced any form of “punishment” from his agency or Netflix as he plays an important role in the TV show, Stranger Things. Netflix reportedly came out with a statement saying that they will “keep an eye on him,” but he will not be fired from the show.
This is a perfect example of a famous person who gets canceled for despicable behavior and gets away with it. It goes to show that even though he could be one of the most hated celebrities right now, he is still making money and is living a rich and lavish lifestyle.
Another example is Kanye West (Ye). As someone who has made reputable music, his fans and many others started canceling him once he started using his platform recklessly. He has done very controversial things such as showing up in a “White Lives Matter” shirt to his fashion show in Paris. While being a person of color, specifically a Black American, and wearing a shirt that stands up for white supremacy and is understandably a racist retort to the Black Lives Matter movement, it is definitely careless and offensive on his part. Ye has also been known to make antisemitic posts on his social media accounts. With such a big following and making hateful comments about Jewish people, people canceled him immediately, and he was also banned from Twitter. Even though he lost many followers, fans, and his partnership with Adidas, he did not feel the need to apologize about his posts or actions. Ye obviously doesn’t care about being canceled as he is still a millionaire and continues to be problematic whether he is in the eye of the public or not. The media doesn’t seem to care, either.
An article on Newsweek showcased the cancellation of Kanye West and how someone like him cannot be canceled no matter how many controversial and thoughtless things he pursues. If the media is also getting their money in some way by creating a story or a villain, it doesn’t matter how horrible the person is, as long as they are getting what they want. Both sides are earning money for their derogatory behavior and narrative, so they could care less about cancel culture.
“He’s not going anywhere. As a culture, we’re obsessed with people like him. They give us an opportunity to create scapegoats and villains, an external deflection, rather than looking at our own stuff.” – Shirani M. Pathak
You will also see all over TikTok when other users stitch popular influencers and call them out for their debatable opinions on important topics. Some influencers who have been called out/ canceled for their actions and posts are Dixie D’Amelio (her behavior controversy with the private chef), David Dobrik (sexual misconduct and repetitive issues of being problematic), Ellie Zeiler (tone-deaf comments on Israel/ Palestine situation), James Charles (accused of grooming, inappropriate behavior, problematic tweets), etc.
Something significant to notice is that when these influencers get “canceled”, many of them will make an apology post because their followers are the reason they are famous and how they make their money. Whether the apology is genuine or not, fans tend to keep calling them out for their behavior or continue supporting them. Either way, they are still getting views and likes and shares which adds up to generating thousands of dollars for them and their team. So, if what they share is true or not, they are still getting the recognition and money to their account by simply uploading their content. It does not matter how or why to them, as long as they stay relevant one way or another. They continue to carry on with their lives in their opulent homes making thousands-millions. What other people say about them may hurt their feelings, but physically and financially, they are fine which is what is most important to them.
Other celebrities who have been canceled/ called out for their poor behavior and incautious actions but did not face major repercussions or did not care include Elon Musk, Olivia Wilde, J.K Rowling, James Corden, Ansel Elgort, and Chrissy Tiegan. There are many, many more, of course. All have dealt with accusations and have been stuck in sticky situations based on what they have done. However, even though many quit certain roles, wrote an apology, or just let it pass, they all still have a pretty successful career and continue to produce content and funds.
Unfortunately, at the end of the day, famous people only care about power and money, which is why cancel culture does not matter to them. They get paid to make statements that they may not believe in, but will do so in order to continue their partnerships and make bank off of them. Cancel culture is not a joke to society, but to many famous people, it is as it makes no difference to their lifestyle and money-making ways.