At the simple touch of a button, the career of a star can be ruined. One wrong move, wrong interview, or wrong outfit, and that’s it. Over the past couple of years social media’s presence in the world has been undeniable. Most people carry some sort of social media app on their phone and indulge in it daily. With this new social media comes a new form of culture in our society- cancel culture.
While browsing on social media you’ve probably heard about one of your favorite creators getting canceled. Canceling someone refers to non supporting a person after they have performed an action, or have said something that is offensive. This is otherwise known as cancel culture.
Our community appears to have good intentions when offering up their opinions about individuals. Afterall, voicing their opinions is a given right, and handing out feedback is just a way to help people understand when they are in the wrong. But giving unwanted feedback is not always the way to go. Take for example singer songwriter Lizzo, who was canceled in Oct. 2024. One of Lizzo’s backup dancers had made a statement saying that Lizzo had body shamed her, making fun of her weight. Lizzo, an overweight woman, is known for embracing her body and preaching body positively. Although Lizzo declined all the claims, her fans were quick to cancel her. Since then Lizzo has lost a numerous amount of followers for a nasty comment that no one can truly prove.
People are quick to judge, and these judgments are not taken lightly. These quick judgments create an abundant amount of online harassment for a person. Whether this treatment is warranted or not, the effects of cancel culture can be detrimental. Some celebrities’ careers never recover at the expense of being canceled.
In more recent cases, actress Blake Lively has been all over the news in a recent lawsuit against It Ends With Us costar Justin Baldoni. While Lively claims Baldoni harassed her during the making of their film, Baldoni fired back that Lively’s behavior on set was very inappropriate. With these developments, fans have come to unveil many interviews where Lively is acting very rude. Needless to say, Lively is in the process of being canceled.
In these cases, people feel it is their job to bring justice to celebrity’s victims. They are able to hold celebrities accountable for their wrongdoings, punishing them in the form of canceling. Although these celebrities have the power of Hollywood on their side, there is nothing they can do to stop from being canceled. By canceling people, we can raise awareness of social issues and promote ethical contact.
People do bad things, we all do, we’re human. At times, sure, we deserve to be called out for it. But before you go and cancel a person, I urge you to think about the consequences of doing so. Cancel culture is a powerful thing; it isn’t taken lightly. Just because that cancellation is going towards a celebrity, doesn’t mean they don’t feel emotions like the rest of us.
