Celebrities in all realms of entertainment have been in the public eye lately, not because they released a new album or won a championship, but because of their choice to use their platform to use slurs and hurt minority groups. In 2021, the question comes; can we keep giving celebrities second, and even third and fourth in some cases, chances for acts like this?
In this past week Morgan Wallen, a country artist at the top of his game, was caught on video saying a racial slur. Wallen was then instantly taken off his record label and radio. Female country artist Cassadee Pope spoke out to say she “was completely disgusted by his words. It has no place in country music and has been tolerated and enabled way too long…and it has no place in this world.” Many other artists have come out after this also denouncing Wallen’s behavior. While Wallen did come out and apologize, he sat in this same seat just a few months ago after partying for multiple days, not following social distancing protocols and being taken off his performance from SNL. These acts we see in celebrities being “let off the hook” has become a pattern in the entertainment industry. But is a simple apology video going to cut it?
More recently actress Gina Carano from the Mandalorian was also let go of her show after comparing Nazi Germany to today’s political climate. Stating on Twitter “because history is edited, most people today don’t realize that to get to the point where Nazi soldiers could easily round up thousands of Jews, the government first made their own neighbors hate them simply for being Jews.” Again, we see a pattern of this not being the first time Carano doing something like this. An array of tweets speaking on making fun of those who wear masks, trans-rights and BLM protest. While this time she was reprimanded, all the times before nothing was done.
The popular reality TV show “The Bachelor” isn’t new to scandals and not displaying black and POC women (and men) correctly or equally, host Chris Harrison is on another one of his “chances” with the public eye. In a recent interview with past bachelorette Rachael Lindsey, Harrison defends this season’s contestant Racheal Kirkconnell for posting cultural appropriation photos and attending racist events. Harrison, being a white man, then proceeds to ask Racheal Lindsey, a black woman, is this really racist, when she clearly had already stated it was.
It is no secret all of these celebrities, and many more, have been given multiple chances on issues that disproportionately affect minority groups.
We’ve gotten to the point where fans praise celebrities for apologizing and defending them but not holding them accountable for the act in the first place. The entertainment industry has been seen to cover for them by allowing them to make an apology and then come back. While we are seeing less forgiveness, the issue of giving second chances on issues like this is still very evident.
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