Don’t get me wrong: I, like the rest of us, enjoy witnessing public shaming online. What I mean is that celebrities can feel like easy targets for faceless keyboards on the internet. They are rich and powerful, so of course words can only hurt them so much when they wipe away their tears with blue-faced bills. What harm will a little hate comment do when they have millions and millions of people telling them how amazing they are tenfold? There is a point, however, when you scroll through Twitter (sorry, “X”) and begin to realize that some people may be enjoying the echo chamber a little too much. They forget that although celebrities are in the public eye, they are also people with their own flaws and personal lives. And that’s when we see celebrities trending with hashtags after their names that got canceled for some stupid reason.
Let’s start with a clarification: it is virtually impossible to ever truly undo a person who is already rich and powerful. Let’s take the lesbian Evil Queen of Worms herself, Ellen DeGeneres, as an example. She subjected her employees to harsh criticism and even behaved harshly towards other stars who visited her talk show.
Although her actions were A little unethical and despicable, Ellen did nothing catastrophically wrong. Her show is no longer on the air and she was supposedly “canceled,” but her money is long gone, as is her influence and business savvy. Instead of being the face of her own show, she is now just a major Hollywood producer. And this is the situation I mean when I say that we can never truly abolish rich and powerful people like celebrities. When they are publicly shunned, they simply fade into obscurity, becoming angel investors, television producers and writers who can still make tons of money right under our noses – the little white titles rolling during the unseen credits. You have to understand that even though these people have the money and influence that we would all like to have to some extent, celebrities are still just cogs in the system. When your name carries weight, whether it’s canceled or not, people with even more money and credibility want to cash in on you no matter what.
I often hear the argument: “Celebrities are public figures and should be held accountable for the bad things they do.” We have to ask ourselves how much it is worth to “hold them accountable.” I mean, Kanye came out as a full-blown Nick Fuentes-loving anti-Semite and still got his Adidas deal back.
Of course, there are cases where cancel culture has been effective. Look at DaBaby selling buy one, get one concert tickets at the Cheesecake Factory, and even they didn’t want to buy discounted tickets if it meant seeing DaBaby rap on stage. But when we try to remove these stars from the Internet or television for reasons such as being bad guys, cheating, or being rude to the waiter, a little thought is collectively needed.
The fact that James Corden has gone from one of America’s favorite late-night show hosts to one of the most hated comedians on network television is ridiculous, to say the least. His popularity plummeted after people online began exposing his rude behavior, claiming fame had gone to his head. Over time, people began to realize that there was a pattern to Corden being rude to restaurant waiters and ignoring fans who wanted to take photos. Ultimately, an anonymous CBS insider said The Late Late Show with James Corden was no longer profitable and they were packing up. Corden, of course, said it was because he wanted to raise his children in London and was planning to leave the United States. But there is an undeniable correlation between its “cancellation” on the network and the show’s decline in viewership. Do I personally like James Corden? No, no, I don’t know. However, I can still accept that he is just a man with talent (I know this is a dubious statement for some) doing his job and getting paid for it. He also turned out to be a huge jerk.
The newest trend in online cancel culture is rejecting people for being bad partners. Whether they cheated on their partner or had toxic tendencies, people are willing to delete their fan accounts and delete their fan cams. Of course, there is a very hard line to draw with this aspect of star cancellations because in many cases the cancellation is valid due to the person’s abusive behavior. But there’s no denying that people hating on Ariana Grande because she allegedly cheated on her husband with a guy who played SpongeBob on Broadway and wasn’t a “chick” is a little funny. Or even people hating Adam Levine not only because he’s a fraud, but also because he’s very cringe-worthy. And frankly, I’m all for canceling anyone who says “That body of yours is absurd” in any context other than fanfic on Wattpad meant to be read alone at 3:00 in the morning. But doesn’t this seem humiliating? I’m here for a good cup of tea, especially when it comes to rich people. At what point do we sit down and realize this is all stupid?
I think people should stop putting these celebrities on a pedestal. You expect them to be good people – why? Because they can sing, dance or tell good jokes? We must take into account that most of these people grew up with privilege and opportunity their entire lives. It’s like they’ve been wrapped in layers and layers of bubble wrap since the moment they were born. In real life, they are rarely, if ever, held accountable for their actions and feel that the world is theirs to dominate rather than coexist in. Many of these stars didn’t have to work their way up in the industry; Instead I just wander off to the side. The care they show for a friend, intern, or fan is so paltry, and honestly, no amount of TikTok exposure or hateful tweets will ever change their outlook.
Additionally, I believe there is a huge difference between someone who is a tool behind closed doors and someone who supports that behavior. They are people just like us, and we are all terrible, toxic and vile. This does not mean that we should all become unemployed and be expelled because we are not always enthusiastic.
Ultimately, these cases are signs that the public is becoming more and more disillusioned with our favorites. We understand how money and fame can poison a person’s integrity and personality. The next step is to stop feeling entitled to these people’s lives, because in the grand scheme of things, they’ll end up richer anyway, and you’ll just get more grouchy and tired judging strangers on the internet all day.