Conversations like this tend to be driven by emotion, so let’s deal with some facts. Dave Chappelle recently launched a Netflix special in which he has been accused of making transphobic jokes. Several trans employees at Netflix tweeted their displeasure at this, and were subsequently suspended, officially for attempting to attend an online meeting they were not invited to. Chappelle has long claimed to be a victim of cancel culture, despite the fact he’s still popular and successful. These trans employees have been shut down and suspended from work because of views they expressed. If you hate cancel culture, you should be outraged by Netflix.

Now on to the emotions of the issue - because of course, far too many of you will not be outraged by this. Those who ardently speak up against cancel culture and in favour of free speech typically mean ‘I want to say unpleasant things without consequences’. It’s rarely in defence of vulnerable people who have been deplatformed or bullied out of their jobs or a position of security by those in power. It’s always about famous people who’ve been - usually rightfully - criticised on Twitter.

Related: It's Kinda Weird How Much Squid Game Hates WomenWhen you Google ‘victims of cancel culture’, some curious names come up. R. Kelly is mentioned - he has just been found guilty of running an underage sex ring. He has not been ‘cancelled’, he has been charged with very serious crimes. Woody Allen is also on the list - a man who has been credibly accused of similarly heinous acts. After those two though, we come to the silly ones.

scarlett johansson as black widow
via Disney

Scarlett Johansson is on the list, having been criticised for taking roles where she played an Asian woman and a trans man, despite the fact that she is neither of these things herself. She defended herself by claiming as an actress, she should be allowed to play a tree. The result of this cancellation? Two Oscar nominations, a starring role in the biggest movie of all time, and an eight-figure payout for Black Widow.

Kevin Hart, stripped of his hosting duties for those very same Oscars after homophobic tweets, also appears. He claims he is a different person now (though he initially refused to apologise for saying he would disown his son if he were gay), but what he did doesn’t really matter. He has Netflix specials, documentaries, and movies of his own being consistently released. He has not been cancelled - he’s still here.

For the record, I have no issue with Johansson and Hart still having a career. I’m not a Hart fan but I’ve seen a lot of Johansson’s work, watched Black Widow during its Premium release, and still enjoy Johansson in it. I do not want to ‘cancel’ her, I just want the rest of you to admit she isn’t cancelled.

Ricky Gervais Grand Theft Auto
Via: i.huffpost.com

Then we come to the subcategory of ‘cancel culture victims’, better known as ‘people who said a transphobic thing once, were criticised, and decided to make transphobia their whole deal’. Ricky Gervais and JK Rowling are the two aces in this deck. Chappelle may find himself there very soon.

Despite their ‘cancellation’, Gervais and Rowling still have successful careers. Gervais regularly does stand-up specials and has enjoyed success with After Life. Gervais seems to relish in his reputation as fodder for material - his schtick when hosting the Golden Globes is to be mean but funny about it, and after trying to style himself for a decade as a ‘controversial’ atheist, the trans angle is working for him.

Rowling’s commitment to the cause seems more ideological, and she nestles in neatly as a figurehead of middle class British women who have made hating trans people a major part of their identity. She is more outspokenly anti-trans, far less able to hide behind the guise of ‘jokes’. Still, her career is fine. She's still releasing books, even if she has surrendered her penname of Robert Galbraith - it's entirely a coincidence that she chose the same name as one of the architects of conversion therapy. Harry Potter movies are still being made, and a triple-A video game in the same universe is set to launch next year. It's big enough to have its own theme park. JK Rowling, frequently held up as cancel culture's biggest casualty, has not been cancelled at all.

red netflix logo on a black background

Finally, we come back to Chappelle. "If this is what being cancelled is like, I love it!" Chappelle said in response to the controversy. But guess what, Dave? It's not. You have not been cancelled, even if your fans are telling you that you have been while they shell out for tickets and buy your DVDs and stream your shows. The trans employees who called out Chappelle have actually been cancelled - they have been threatened with having their livelihoods taken away on shoddy pretenses that circle back to the fact they criticised one of Netflix's most high-profile stars.

Some disclosure - I myself am trans. However, I don't really have a problem with Chappelle's special in itself. I think it crossed the line, but hey, it got laughs. That's his job. If Chappelle got on stage and made jokes about the Nazis being right about the Jews, or if a white comedian made jokes about Black people being monkeys, that wouldn't get a laugh. We'd be horrified. That people still find ridiculing trans people funny when lobbyists and governments make us more and more vulnerable is a bigger issue than Dave Chappelle. Again, it crossed a line. It probably shouldn't have ran as a headline show on the world's biggest streaming platform. But editing the show, cutting it entirely, or even cancelling Dave Chappelle does not solve this issue.

I used to be a Chappelle fan way back in the days of The Chappelle Show. He's a funny guy - that's how he's made millions from comedy. These days, I know not to watch his specials because they punch down too much. He's from an era of comedians who think you have to upset and offend people to be funny, blissfully unaware that the funniest tweet of all time is dril asking for help budgeting his candles. "Can you dust my wets?" is better than anything most edgy comics have produced in their entire careers.

We don't need comedy like this, but so many of you want it. That won't go away by 'cancelling' Dave Chappelle. If those of you so keen on free speech, open debate, and the eradication of cancel culture are prepared to stand by while powerless people are punished for criticising celebrities though, I don't think you're afraid of cancel culture at all. You're afraid that people might say mean things about rich celebrities whose views align with yours. Snowflakes.

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