The expansion of social media in people’s day-to-day life has brought about the rise of cancel culture. Most people have access to a cell phone and are in the loop of celebrity news through the internet and social media, and this has affected celebrities and even average people in everyday life.

     Cancel culture is the process of deplatforming a person after they’ve done something that offends the people in their audience. People who feel someone has done something wrong will go out of their way to make that person lose their job, get kicked out of college, etc. It started with celebrities, particularly during the #metoo movement, but now it can happen to pretty much anyone.

      Cancel culture is a huge waste of time. “Canceled” celebrities are under fire for a month or so, and then they go and keep on making money.

     For example, Louis C.K., one of the bigger targets of the #metoo movement, had a tour planned and released a new stand-up comedy special in 2020. Louis C.K. is a famous comedian, writer and actor, and he was canceled for sexual misconduct in front of female colleagues in 2017.

     What he did was wrong, but his being canceled had next to no impact on his career. People were advocating for an important cause, but it didn’t result in much in this case, which wasted a lot of time and energy for the movement as a whole.

     Celebs that get canceled don’t really get canceled. They can rattle out a fake apology and then continue to make money.

      Also, it’s impossible to cancel a person who doesn’t care. In most cases, people try to cancel someone for saying something that’s not politically correct. In most cases, a person will give an apology and move on with fewer fans than before.

     Others just act as if they don’t care if what they said offended some people. Examples of this are some celebrities like Kanye West, Dave Portnoy and many online content creators like Ian Carter (iDubbbz) and Nelk. They have fans who enjoy their content no matter what and some believe what they said may not be meant to be taken seriously.

      Furthermore, a celebrity who is dead can’t be canceled. People have attempted to cancel Michael Jackson and John Lennon repeatedly. Jackson and Lennon are two of the most famous and influential musicians of all time.   

      They have both had accusations released about them after death that made it more difficult for them to be idolized. Jackson is accused of being a pedophile and Lennon an abusive individual and a racist.

     While these things would likely get any living person canceled, it won’t work with these two. Their work will always be out there and will be regarded as some of the best work mankind has to offer, and there is nothing even the weakest person can do about it.

      Cancel culture isn’t exclusive to celebrities either. It seems like about once a week a video of a person freaking out in a public area goes viral and they end up getting fired from their job. People also track down people who have posted questionable beliefs and jokes and can get them fired or punished.

     While these people are behaving inappropriately, “canceling” them in this way is a bit intense. They should be educated and helped to improve their behavior and given a second chance, not have their livelihood taken away.

      There are people who have gotten canceled and fully deserved it, like Harvey Weinstein and Kevin Spacey. But there is a difference between these people and the majority of the celebs who face being canceled.

     Those two men in particular were charged with crimes. However, a celebrity like J.K. Rowling, who by both her fans and the majority of the actors who portrayed her characters has been “canceled” for homophobic, transphobic, anti-semitic, racist and misogynistic beliefs.

     Rowling still has a platform and stands behind her beliefs and still makes a multi-million dollar salary each year. And fans continue to cherish the Harry Potter books and movies, but they separate the work from her.

      Cancel culture’s root cause isn’t a bad one. Some people are bad people and don’t deserve the platforms they have. But it has gotten out of control to the point where people on social media are always trying to police other’s thoughts. It has increased the hostility of social media and the pressure to be perfect.