Cancel Culture: The Double-Edged Sword

In 2021, topics like racism, social justice, and equality are never far from the forefront. It seems like we only got a few days without a new controversy to spark the debate. Police brutality, transgenderism -these human rights issues have been major political topics and have polarized America.

The question is often asked: Has America come as far along as it should? If there is a war for social justice, then Cancel Culture is a Panzer. Activists have wielded Cancel Culture to isolate and punish personalities that conflict with their values. The typical victim loses their job and has trouble finding a new one. But like any weapon, Cancel Culture can have adverse effects when in the wrong hands. Sometimes, weapons backfire.

The Case of Alexi McCammond

Last week, Alexi McCammond should have started her job as the Editor in Chief at Teen Vogue. Instead, McCammond resigned before assuming the role due to racist and homophobic tweets that resurfaced from when she was a teenager. She has since deleted the tweets. The tweets, which included derogatory comments about Asian people as well as homophobic slurs, caused a recent stir but were not completely buried since she posted them ten years ago. McCammond publicly addressed them in an apology in 2019. McCammond addressed these tweets again in her vetting process with Teen Vogue. At Conde Nast, Teen Vogue’s parent company, executives felt satisfied with her apology and growth since the tweets and decided to hire her.

After the announcement, critics of McCammond spoke up in protest of her hiring. Among them was Christine Davitt, the senior social media manager at Teen Vogue. Davitt posted to social media the open letter from the Teen Vogue staff in opposition to McCammond’s hiring. Amidst the outrage that Davitt, in large part, fueled, McCammond resigned from Teen Vogue. But more links in the chain followed.

Before the dust had even settled on Alexi McCammond, some old tweets of Christine Davitt surfaced. Similarly scandalous tweets surfaced from Christine Davitt. Davitt, of Irish and Filipino descent, used the ‘N-word’ in three separate tweets. In two tweets, she referred to an associate as the ‘N-word,’ and in another tweet, she uses the word in an observational joke. She has since deleted the tweets. Now, the internet calls for Davitt’s termination or resignation as some sort of karmic justice.

The Jokes on Her

During the recent spate of anti-Asian attacks, another instance of someone trying to make an example of another’s misdeeds was backfired. On March 17th, author and comedian Ellory Smith took to Twitter to call out another comedian:

“remember when someone had their SNL offer revoked after using an anti-Asian slur, and so many people thought it was an overreaction? Hateful language begets violence. Hateful jokes beget violence. They minimize and they dehumanize, and they allow for the normalization of terror.”

The person Smith is referring to is Shane Gillis. Saturday Night Live offered Gillis a role in 2019 but then pulled the offer from the table when some old racist jokes he told on a radio show had surfaced. Her tweets suggest that she supports Gillis losing his job over his offensive jokes. Shortly after that tweet, Mike Recine posted a screenshot of that tweet with an older one.

People were quick to point out Smith’s hypocrisy: supporting the cancellation of a comedian who made anti-Asian jokes in the past when she fits the same description. She has since deleted the tweet. Smith took to Twitter, once again, to issue an apology.

Beer Money

Canceled Cancellers is not an entirely new phenomenon. Readers may remember the case of Carson King. In September of 2019, the 24-year-old got on TV, holding a sign during ESPN Game Day filming at the Cy-Hawk football game. The sign read “Busch Light Supply Needs Replenished,” with his Venmo account listed underneath. His poster gained much attention – King ultimately collected $1 million. But instead of using the funds for beer money, King donated it to the University of Iowa Stead Family Children’s Hospital.

Anheuser-Busch, making of Busch Light, tweeted that they would match King’s donations and send him a year’s supply of beer with his picture on the cans. And then tweets resurfaced. Aaron Calvin, a reporter for the Iowa Register, profiled Carson and found some offensive tweets that King posted in 2012 when he was 16 years old. The tweets, quoting comedian Daniel Tosh, were racist in nature. Shortly after, Anheuser-Busch announced they were ending their partnership with King.

“Carson King had multiple social media posts that do not align with our values as a brand or as a company, and we will have no further association with him.”

You may know where this is going. Not long after Aaron Calvin published the profile on King, problematic tweets of his own surfaced.

Numerous tweets of Calvin’s surfaced with the ‘N-word’ and others with Calvin criticizing gay. Calvin no longer works for the Iowa Register.

Those in Glass Houses…

When it comes to social justice, thoughts on what’s considered racist and hateful can vary. Some believe that the media takes things too seriously and that Cancel Culture ruins innocent lives. Others advocate that there is no time like the present to call out behavior that should no longer be acceptable – no matter the sacrificial lamb. In either case, it seems that in the case of Cancel Culture, it’s as the old saying goes: live by the sword, die by the sword.

Could it just be a coincidence that those that are pushing for certain cancellations are being canceled themselves? Or is there more to it? It is increasingly less common to be free of guilt in a society with ever-changing standards for acceptable behavior. It may be that those who call for cancellation are looking for some merit in this social justice war. But as we are learning, neither the accuser nor the canceled are ever remembered fondly.