Latest news with #cancelculture
The Guardian
27-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
The anti-woke warriors used to defend free speech. Now they make McCarthyism look progressive
Thoughts and non-denominational prayers to all the anti-woke warriors out there. It may seem as though everything is going their way now Donald Trump is back with a vengeance, but the poor things have run into a bit of a branding problem. For years, the anti-woke crowd positioned themselves as fearless free thinkers taking on the intolerant left. The journalist Bari Weiss wrote a fawning New York Times piece in 2018 describing rightwing voices such as Ben Shapiro and Candace Owens as 'renegades of the intellectual dark web' (IDW). Now, however, the people who used to position themselves as oppressed truth-tellers operating in what Weiss's article called an 'era of That Which Cannot Be Said', have a state-sanctioned microphone. They've won. But in winning they've made it difficult to continue the charade that they give a damn about 'cancel culture'. Look around: some of these self-styled free speech warriors are doing everything they can to ruin the lives of everyone who doesn't 100% agree with them. Most conservatives don't seem to mind that their hypocrisy is now on full display. But, according to a recent piece on the news site Semafor, a handful of people within the anti-woke media ecosystem are starting to have something of an identity crisis. 'One didn't have to be especially prescient to spot those 'anti-woke' types who would just slowly become Maga flunkies,' said the libertarian journalist Michael Moynihan, who had a short stint at Weiss's publication the Free Press before becoming disillusioned. Remember when the right railed against people losing jobs for old comments they'd made? In 2018, for example, the Atlantic fired the conservative columnist Kevin Williamson after the backlash about a 2014 podcast appearance in which the 60-year-old had suggested women should face hanging for having an abortion. Cue a million furious tweets from the 'renegades of the IDW' about how, as Ben Shapiro put it on X, 'virtually everyone is vulnerable if they run afoul of the Left's interests'. Now, however, there's no denying that virtually everyone is vulnerable if they run afoul of the right's interests. Semafor's piece notes that 'One [Free Press] investigation that exposed two low-profile employees at PBS who had focused on diversity and got them fired rubbed even some of its allies the wrong way'. At least the DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) employees at PBS 'only' got fired. Canary Mission and Betar US, two pro-Israel groups, have been compiling 'deportation' lists of pro-Palestinian activists on college campuses and sharing them with the Trump administration. Betar US has also warned that it is going to expand its focus beyond immigrants to naturalised US citizens. These organisations are just a couple of cogs in a massive dissent-crushing machine. The Christian nationalist Heritage Foundation, which spearheaded Project 2025, is behind a dystopian plan called Project Esther that cynically weaponises very real concerns about antisemitism to shut down criticism of Israel and quash pro-Palestinian activism. And you can bet these censorious projects won't end with Palestinians: at the rate we're going, pro-choice sentiment will soon be considered 'anti-Christian' and anyone espousing it will get deported. If that sounds far-fetched, let me remind you that last month the veterans affairs department ordered staff to report their colleagues for 'anti-Christian bias'. Drunk on their power to deport and defame, some on the right have officially lost the plot. For months a number of conservative voices have been engaged on a mission to cancel Ms Rachel, a children's entertainer whose real name is Rachel Accurso. If you have small children, Ms Rachel needs no introduction. For everyone else, she wears a pink headband and sings songs such as Icky Sticky Bubble Gum. Ms Rachel's videos have always been gently inclusive: she incorporates sign language and she has frequently had Jules Hoffman, a non-binary musician, on her show. On her personal social media she has also advocated for issues such as paid family leave. The right tried to cancel Ms Rachel over Hoffman's gender identity back in 2023. Now they're trying to cancel the beloved star again; this time for the 'crime' of speaking up about Palestinian kids and featuring a three-year-old double amputee from Gaza in a video. The fact Accurso is humanising Palestinian children is driving some rightwing voices so berserk that they're smearing her as antisemitic, asking the US attorney general for an investigation, and spreading the ridiculous and completely baseless lie (which the New York Times bizarrely chose to amplify) that she is being funded by Hamas. Welcome to our 'new era of That Which Cannot Be Said': one that may make McCarthyism seem progressive. It would seem the new renegades of the intellectual dark web are those of us who think you shouldn't bomb starving babies in their sleep just because they are Palestinian. Arwa Mahdawi is a Guardian columnist
The Independent
19-05-2025
- Entertainment
- The Independent
Kid Rock applauds Trump for ‘spanking' DEI groups – but rock star notes he helped lead anti-woke push
Kid Rock has hailed President Donald Trump as the 'dragon slayer' of diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) policies within the federal government and praised him for ushering ' cancel culture ' out of the national conversation while acknowledging that, sometimes, 'a little spanking' can be necessary. Speaking to Fox News Digital at his 'Rock N Rodeo' event in Arlington, Texas, on Friday, the singer was asked about the state of the culture wars in the United States since Trump returned to the White House in January. 'I think wokeness and DEI and cancel culture is starting to exit the building, and we can thank President Trump for leading that charge once again,' he answered. 'I call him the dragon slayer in that regard, 'cuz he just came and slit the throat of DEI and wokeness. 'There's always gonna be cancel culture at some level, somebody getting butt sore about this, wants to protest and not buy a product or whatever. You know, me personally, I'm not into seeing people lose their jobs over some corporate decision that was made.' Drawing attention to his own role in the anti-woke pushback, notably joining the conservative boycott of Bud Light beer in 2023 after the brand featured transgender influencer Dylan Mulvaney in a commercial, Rock continued: 'Sometimes there needs [to be] a little spanking there, like Bud Light had from me and some other people, but at the end of the day, we forgave them, said, 'It's all good. Let's get back on track.' 'I do think it's exiting the building right now, and hopefully it stays gone, but we should be a merit-based system. The best and [most] hardworking rises to the top. 'I don't know how we got here, because to me, that's just common sense, that's just the ultimate, highest level of common sense that just the best and the hardest workers rise to the top. It doesn't matter, anything else.' A long-time supporter and Florida golf buddy of Trump, Rock was invited to sum up the president's first four months back in the Oval Office. 'My thoughts on President Trump's presidency? Greatest president ever. I can sum it up like that,' he responded. 'Not only because of our friendship and all the laughs we share on the golf course or hanging out at UFC fights or whatever it might be, but just the tenacity this man has. You know, the most resilient. 'You know, I call myself the American Bad A**, but I think I got to ride shotgun on that moniker when I'm with the president. Just somebody who loves this country unapologetically, and fights for it every single day.' Hinting at the extent of his personal pull with Trump, Rock said: 'I remind him every day that, 'Don't forget, Mr President.' I was like, 'We can deal with reasonable people on the left.' ''That's no problem,' I go. 'But there's a lot of bad actors. Their goal, at the highest level, is to lock you up and take everything you had,' I go. 'And that we can't forget. Those people need to be dealt with. But, other than that, love everybody. Let's bring this country together.''
Telegraph
14-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
At last, BBC radio comedy feels free to offend everyone
If John Morton's BBC spoof W1A is anywhere near as accurate as everyone at the Beeb tells me it is, you can imagine the meetings that must have been held to discuss Four Gammons and a Unicorn (Radio 4, Tuesday). Katie Sayer's satirical comedy-drama bravely plunged its hands into a bag chock-full of thorny issues – notably gender identity and transgender rights – in a manner that must have had execs reaching for the smelling salts. 'We're going to represent GB News as a channel full of lecherous blow-hards, moral bankruptcy and reactionary morons?' Yes, but… 'Oh, we're going to represent left-wing activists as hypocritical, vicious and thick as two short planks? Wonderful! We'll offend everyone!' In Sayer's slightly lurid tale, a student at a prestigious university, Imogen (Alyth Ross), is 'cancelled' when her attempts to secure training space for her women's hockey team is interpreted as a rallying cry for booting transgender women out of female sport. The university newspaper spins it out of all recognition and eventually – shock, horror – the Daily Telegraph is running stories headlined 'Student slams trans inclusion in sport'. In an attempt to save face, Imogen accepts an interview slot on right-wing station 'Channel Albion', which only leads to her front door being graffiti-ed and urinated on, as well as an escalation of online threats ('Suck my d--k, you stupid b----h, we know where you live'). The humour is derived from Sayer's lampooning of middle-class student ideology. Imogen herself is as right-on as they come, chastising her father for describing a black woman as handsome ('It's unconscious bias, you wouldn't call a white girl 'handsome'') and then for using the word black ('It's BIPOC. You really shouldn't need me to educate you on this, it's embarrassing'). When Imogen sympathises with a friend whose door was also graffiti-ed for sticking up for her, he shoots back: 'Affected minorities are entitled to enact any form of resistance they see fit.' Throughout, social media bloops and bleeps in the background, ploughing a 'holier than thou' furrow – someone recommends Caroline Criado-Perez's feminist book, Invisible Women, only to be upbraided for ableism: 'Not everyone is able to read for pleasure.' The right-wing is giving a kicking too, via Channel Albion, which debates subjects such as banning halal meat in schools and whether obese people should pay more tax. Rufus Jones has a ball as the 'gammon' breakfast presenter (take your pick as to who Jones is channeling), while Daniel Mays is nicely slippery as the channel's guest booker. However, while Sayer makes some neat points about the hypocrisy and malleability of the reactionary orthodoxy on both sides, and does so very wittily, Four Gammons and a Unicorn overplays its satirical hand. Almost no one in the drama is a normal person – everyone is either dim or vile or both. It's a world in which the very worst five to 10 per cent of Britain is held up as exemplars of the whole nation. Imogen's overnight 180 from JK Rowling -hating, vegan 'woke warrior' to Katie Hopkins -esque right-wing loudmouth is also jarring. Those attacked and cancelled by the Left can often find solace elsewhere, but not this quickly, surely. However, bravo to Sayer and Radio 4 for taking all this on, something aided by the gradual sea-change in British public opinion on pussyfooting around hyper-woke ideology and, indeed, anti-woke ideology. The increasingly unpopular Labour government and Keir Starmer have also proved a boon for Radio 4 comedy – finally, the joke writers of W1A can thrash both sides with impunity. The News Quiz (Radio 4, Friday) did its usual job of ribbing Reform and Kemi Badenoch, but saved its most acidic attacks for Labour. 'When I come on shows like this,' said the self-styled conservative comedian Geoff Norcott, 'I'm the one defending Labour's policies. That's how right-wing they've got.' On the surreal sketch show Michael Spicer: No Room (Radio 4, Wednesday), a government team was tasked with selling the idea of private prisons to the public. One thought was, rather than stopping any rioting in prisons, simply 'changing the definition of what a riot is', a dig that would have landed nicely with anyone fed up with the government's rhetoric. Certainly fed up was Jonathan Pie, the spoof left-wing political phone-in host, who ended the second and final series of his Call Jonathan Pie (BBC Sounds) with a furious rant: 'This government has been f---ing awful. What is your moral mission? Something to put a little blood in my crotch.' And that was written long before Starmer's speech on immigration. You get a sense that the Labour government has put a little blood back in the crotch of Radio 4 comedy, with everyone able to cut loose across the political and ideological spectrum. BBC balance has never been seized upon quite so hungrily.
Fox News
09-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Fox News
Jamie Kennedy defends anti-Israel actress from cancellation, says starring in pro-life film changed him
Legendary comedian Jamie Kennedy is getting candid about cancel culture that he says has turned him into the free speech advocate he is today. During a recent interview with Fox News Digital, the veteran stand-up comic, TV show creator and film star lamented mainstream culture's efforts in recent years to silence him and other celebrities, like "Scream" series star Melissa Barerra, for sharing controversial opinions, starring in controversial movies, or making offensive jokes. "I think the whole idea, the term 'cancel' – 'cancellation' – think about that. Think how insane that term is. Like, 'Hey, you know what? We don't like what you said. Canceled.' Like, what? 'You're done. You don't matter. You're deleted.' What? I'm not worth anything? Like, you talk about inclusive. That's like the most uninclusive thing of all time," Kennedy said. Kennedy has been a household name in the entertainment industry for over 30 years, having starred in major Hollywood franchises like "Scream," written and produced his own TV show in the early 2000s, "The Jamie Kennedy Experiment," and continued to do stand-up over the years. The comedian also now hosts his "HATE TO BREAK IT TO YA" podcast. Like other influential veteran comedians, Kennedy said he has noticed a cultural phenomenon in recent years that has sought to punish prominent people for sharing controversial opinions. In many cases, this has happened to prominent conservative figures, like Star Wars "The Mandalorian" actress Gina Carano, who was fired by Disney in 2021 for her social media posts comparing the experience of Jewish people during the Holocaust to the U.S. political divide. Carano would go on to sue Disney, accusing it of firing her over "refusing to support movements and ideologies with which she did not agree," including Black Lives Matter, COVID lockdowns and sharing pronouns. As of July 2024, a U.S. District judge denied Disney's motion to dismiss the actress' suit, allowing it to move forward. Kennedy ripped the unfairness of Carano's firing during the interview, telling Fox News Digital, "I love Gina, she's amazing. And that should have never happened. She should have never gotten canceled. That really felt personal and like a targeted attack. They were waiting for her to make something that was considered a mistake. You know, there was no forgiveness or, you know, it was just done. And I mean, that was just crazy to me." He continued, "Here she is, she's a woman. She's an independent woman, strong, classy, and can handle herself. And she's like a hero, a heroine in a Disney show, and they cancel her. Like she's the embodiment of what you want as a strong woman." However, the comedian mentioned that the actress' firing did have a silver lining – that it woke people up to the insanity of this crackdown on free speech. "So, I think those types of cancelations started turning the tide because people are like, 'Why? What did she ever do?' You know what I mean? OK, you didn't like what she said? Let her come on, explain, and have a conversation. There was no room for error or mistake or explanation," he said. Though high-profile people with conservative opinions seem to have made up the majority of cancel culture's victims, Kennedy argued that one of the biggest victims of cancel culture was punished for her liberal views. Spyglass Entertainment fired "Scream" star Melissa Barerra from future franchise installments in 2023 after she shared several anti-Israel social media posts in the wake of the Oct. 7 Hamas terror attack. One of Barrera's multiple posts read, "Gaza is currently being treated like a concentration camp. Cornering everyone together, with no where to go, no electricity no water … People have [learned] nothing from our histories. And just like our histories, people are still silently watching it all happen. THIS IS GENOCIDE & ETHNIC CLEANSING." In another, she suggested that social media and Western media only show the Israeli side of the war in an act of censorship. Though Spyglass justified the decision because of its "zero tolerance for antisemitism," Kennedy, who starred in the original 1996 "Scream" film, argued this was an example of cancel culture as egregious as the rest of them. "100%, it was cancel culture. She should have never been fired. She has her beliefs, OK? She's allowed to have her beliefs. Other people on set have other beliefs. This is, you know, it's the most difficult subject – one of the most difficult subjects to discuss right now in modern times. And she's brave enough to put her beliefs out there," he said. "If you don't like them, call her up. Talk to her." Kennedy mentioned how shocked he was that the career of a rising star like Barerra could just be derailed over her opinion. "I had never seen that in terms of like a star so hot, so on her rise – just everything ripped away for a tweet. A tweet! It was ridiculous, and it's just gonna fuel more people going, 'why did you do that?'" Kennedy's sensitivity to the issue comes from his own battles with the media and Hollywood, in particular the backlash he got for simply having a role in the 2021 movie, "Roe v. Wade," a film about the landmark ruling that legalized abortion in the United States. Around the time of its release, media critics trashed the film as pro-life religious propaganda. The film's director, Nick Loeb, told Fox News Digital that the film was merely presenting the facts of the case. Kennedy was cast as journalist and abortion-rights advocate Larry Leder in the film. He told Fox that he thought it was a good role at the time and didn't have strong political feelings about it, saying he "knew nothing" about the film's subject matter. He explained how he was blindsided by the media criticizing him simply for being on the project. "That's all I did was take heat," he said. "I did the movie. I tell everybody, it was an independent movie. I was treated first class. We shot in New Orleans for like five weeks. I got a straight offer. It was a character that was, you know, a very big character in the history of Planned Parenthood. He studied under Margaret Sanger, one of the founders of Planned Parenthood. He was a hero to the left." Kennedy acknowledged that he knew the movie was a "controversial take" on the abortion provider, but noted it wasn't until Loeb "gave me books and said, 'Read this, read this, read this,'" that he became more knowledgeable about abortion and Planned Parenthood. "It was fascinating and it kind of changed me as a person," he said. However, Kennedy said the bigger impact on him came from the media reaction to him being in the film. "But then just being in that movie, the amount of vitriol that I received. I'm like, I'm an actor and these, like, you know, like The Daily Beast and you know, Decider, or whatever these different publications – The Atlantic – wrote these reviews, and they would just call me out. You know, 'Jamie Kennedy is a right-wing' – all this stuff. And it's like, what? I'm just an actor." Kennedy, who often blasts the media and isn't afraid to talk politics or get into conspiracy theories on his podcast, told Fox News Digital that the media effort to cancel "Roe V. Wade" had "totally birthed who you're talking to." The comedian also described how the cancel culture scourge affected his comedy career, forcing him to drop doing stand-up shows on college campuses altogether because audiences couldn't take certain jokes, even from liberal comedians. Providing the reasons he abandoned college venues, he said, "A, I started getting booked less, B, they started booking comedians less, and C, they started getting mad at comedians, liberal comedians," he said. "Like hardcore San Francisco liberal comedies were getting in trouble for jokes. Like, it's crazy. So, no one wanted really to do them." When asked if some of his old comedy material or his movies, like 2003's "Malibu's Most Wanted," would be able to get made today, Kennedy admitted it would "definitely" be difficult. The 2003 film starred Kennedy as a wannabe White rapper. The comedian defended the film, arguing it has messages about White and Black culture that are relevant today. "We took stereotypes, we flipped them on their heads, and you know, people always say a good comedy gives you a message without you knowing it. You know what I mean? Malibu has a lot of messages in it. It's packaged as a nice, fun, light comedy, but it still holds up because people say the different things and they quote it and stuff," he said. He continued, "But it 100% was commenting on what was going on and what we think Black culture is or White culture and, you know, being true to yourself. Can you be this way, even though you weren't, you know, raised in this culture, and so forth? Those are the deeper meanings of the movie, but in a nutshell, it's really funny, you know?" Still, Kennedy expressed hope that the movie could be made again following President Donald Trump's 2024 election victory. "But I think with Trump coming in, I think it could be made again. It needs to be made," he declared.
News24
08-05-2025
- Entertainment
- News24
Scotts Maphuma acknowledges mistake in heartfelt apology to disappointed fans
Fame is a double-edged sword, while it brings adoration, it also demands accountability. In the entertainment industry, fans are the ultimate gatekeepers of an artist's career - love them and they will lift you up; neglect them, and they'll tear you down. Scotts Maphuma's incident serves as a stark reminder that in today's digital age, artists are just one misstep away from being cancelled by the very fans who once adored them. In a recent turn of events, South African amapiano sensation Scotts Maphuma has issued an apology to his fans after facing backlash for his behaviour towards them. The controversy began when a video surfaced online showing Scotts reacting negatively to requests for photos, with many labelling him as 'rude' and 'ungrateful.' The video which sparked widespread criticism, showed Maphuma visibly frustrated and dismissive when approached by fans for photos. Following the video was the podcast Scotts attended hosted by L-Tido and even there Maphuma showed no remorse whatsoever for his actions as he was adamant on not 'owing anyone anything.' Many took to social media to express their hurt and disappointment, feeling that Maphuma's behaviour was unprofessional and unappreciative of his supporters. View this post on Instagram A post shared by l_tido 🇿🇦 (@l_tido) This led to many of bookings being cancelled by establishments as patrons remained adamant on 'cancelling' another case if he was successfully booked and performing on stage, the audience would often times disregard him and give him no time of the day, which many referred to as 'karma.' View this post on Instagram A post shared by VOGUE LOUNGE 014🇿🇦 (@voguelounge014) want to take a moment to sincerely apologize to all my supporters. I've let some of you down, and I take full responsibility. Growth comes with owning your mistakes and I'm committed to doing better, for myself and for you. Thank you for still believing in me. — Real Scotts Maphuma (@RealScotts_M) May 7, 2025 According to many, Maphuma's apology may have been influenced by a meeting he recently had with industry veteran, Oskido, a renowned South African DJ, record producer, and musician. In his apology, Scotts acknowledged that he had let some of his supporters down and took full responsibility for his actions. He expressed a commitment to doing better in the future, stating, 'I want to take a moment to sincerely apologise to all my supporters. I've let some of you down, and I take full responsibility. Growth comes with owning your mistakes and I'm committed to doing better, for myself and for you.' Many supporters have welcomed Maphuma's apology, appreciating his willingness to listen and learn from his mistakes.
