Can We Be Un-Cancelled?

When cancel culture swept popular vernacular back in the late teenies, it became arguably the most controversial term in popular culture. From athletes, to influencers, to Presidents, no one was exempt from having their historic statements and actions scrutinised. The responses to cancel culture were equally varied, with many saying it was fair, a mere microcosm of what oppressed minorities had experienced for centuries; simultaneously, others claimed that it was a force for repression and totalitarianism. So, what is cancellation? It is essentially the boycotting of people, groups, or companies due to their perceived morally incorrect actions against another person or group.

Becoming one of those rare phenomena which transcended pop culture into politics, the term became a hot-button issue during the 2020 US presidential election. Denounced by both the left and right, in theory, there should have been no space for it in either camp. However, in a shocking turn of events, it transpired that politicians were being hypocritical. Having branded cancel culture, and on a larger scale, ‘wokeness’, as totalitarian, they attempted to cancel a number of individuals and businesses.

Both sides of the aisle seemed comfortable exploiting the practice for their own political gain, most recently with JD Vance’s push to report those who celebrated the murder of right-wing activist Charlie Kirk to their employers.

But what now? It’s been years since the term was at the peak of its fame in the zeitgeist, and while most people have come to the conclusion that some individuals deserve deplatforming (Harvey Weinstein springs to mind), people who have committed less horrifying actions deserve room to grow and become better. 

We’ve witnessed several reactions to cancel culture: the classic “apology with tears” which characterised a lot of early YouTubers’ attempts to make amends; the sheer refusal to apologise, often accompanied by a shift to the right; and the rise of the mentality that you “can’t cancel someone who doesn’t care.” The final ethos goes for individuals — most frequently, influencers — who have such a history of controversy that they have embraced it as their brand, though often claiming to have grown. The two most famous examples of this are probably YouTubers Tana Mongeau (who, until recently, hosted the Cancelled Podcast) and Trisha Paytas, who has been embroiled in so many cancellations it's impossible to keep track. 

This speaks to an interesting trend: by going against the grain and making controversy part of their brand, both were able to disarm the power of cancellation. Mongeau made mild controversy and so-called internet ‘drama’ an integral part of her brand by naming her podcast Cancelled. A genius business move, because when you search up “Tana Mongeau cancelled,” her podcast with millions of monthly listeners appears first. 

Alternatively, Trisha Paytas often references her previous problematic behaviour and pokes fun at herself, citing drug abuse and mental health issues as the driving factors behind them. Her infamous tweets and YouTube videos are now hailed as “iconic pop culture moments” including (but not limited to) when she claimed she identified as a chicken nugget; made music videos entitled ‘I Love You Jesus’ and ‘I Love You Moses’ respectively; and dressed up in Pharaoh Halloween attire and lip synced to the song ‘King Tut,’ captioning it “probs offensive, will probs delete.” She now commemorates this TikTok annually by recreating it with her children.

Whether this behaviour is acceptable or not, it attests to the significance of cancellation and its place in modern internet culture and beyond. An increasing number of influencers are becoming “brand safe” or “rebranding” to more family-friendly styles, and Embracing cancellation or controversy is becoming more infrequent as a self-promotional tool.

Illustration by Mia Fish