Is getting ‘cancelled’ a good thing now?

This is how classic celebrity cancellations usually go: after posting their Notes app apology, the celeb in question would essentially go into hiding. Their career would take a turn for the worse, all of their sponsorships and brand deals would go down the drain and whatever was left of their image would be torn to shreds on the internet. Take Marilyn Manson, who was dropped by his record label after he was hit with abuse allegations in 2021, or Armie Hammer, who has not worked in Hollywood since he was also hit with abuse (and cannibalism) allegations. Then maybe – maybe – depending on the severity of the scandal, the celeb would slowly start working on their redemption arc.

But it seems this usual chain of events is not the case anymore. Today, instead of apologising and repenting for their alleged actions, celebrities have started doubling down and even capitalising on them. They have essentially stopped taking allegations seriously, and show next to no remorse for whatever comes out against them.

For example, when YouTuber Colleen Ballinger was accused of grooming minors, she released a video of her singing a song on her ukelele, denying everything. It then appeared that she had copyrighted said song and even released it on music streaming platforms (her team denies this, however). Louis CK has gone on to have a very successful career post his sexual misconduct allegations, even winning a Grammy for his comedy album (that references the allegations) in 2022. Most recently, Jonah Hill was just accused of emotional abuse by his ex-girlfriend and has now released merchandise bearing the phrase “complete unrelenting control” on it. It seems as though disgraced celebrities, instead of retreating and repenting, are using any sort of publicity as a means of making money or furthering their careers, even if that means appealing to a problematic audience.

How did we get here? A lot of this can be traced back to the Johnny Depp v Amber Heard trial. People were overwhelmingly in favour of Johnny Depp: during the trial, #IStandWithAmberHeard garnered about 8.2 million views on TikTok, while #JusticeForJohnnyDepp amassed around 15 billion views. Since the trial, Heard has retreated from the spotlight, while Depp’s career seems to be going from strength to strength: he’s since performed with Jeff Beck, signed a seven-figure deal with Dior, and been cast as King Louis XV in a new feature film. This is all despite it being true that Depp did abuse Heard.

“This tactic of profiting from cancellations, despite its deeply disconcerting nature, is largely due to the phenomenon that it taps into people’s fascination with celebrity culture,” explains Eliza Gwendalyn, CEO of PR agency BMI. “The allure of fame and the desire to be privy to their personal lives can create an environment where one is willing to overlook or rationalise a celebrity’s controversial action in exchange for continued engagement.” 

Part of it is also because the public is a bit sick of cancel culture. “It works because you’re mocking cancel culture, which the public opposes. If the public was for cancel culture, this would be a different story,” adds Mitchell Jackson, founder and publicist at BCC Communications.

“In today’s content economy, attention brings capital – not morality” – MJ Corey

Another reason? The Kardashians. The Kar-Jenner family have been experts at capitalising on scandal literally since the second they became prominent. After all, their careers have essentially been built off the back of Kim’s sex tape. “The Kardashians have laid the blueprint for leaning into scandal and monetising outrage, notably, somehow, without taking public refuge in the political right, which is where the unrepentant socially ostracised often turn,” says MJ Corey, psychotherapist and writer who runs the Kardashian Kolloquium Instagram account. 

The thing about the Kardashians is that they very quickly realised that outrage earned clicks and sparked discourse on the news and social media – all of which only served to make them more money. “It’s very straightforward, and a lot of people understand this now, but I think from the beginning the Kardashians have been uniquely unafraid of experimenting with the outrage model and shouldering any fallout,” Corey explains. “And they probably found that in today’s content economy, attention brings the capital – not morality.”

Cancel culture has changed a lot over the last decade. Now, people are aware that no one is ever really cancelled forever. The cancellation of a celebrity – and the ensuing PR tactics they use to capitalise on or get out of it – depends on the cultural climate that the scandal has arrived in, how people already felt about the personalities involved, and the depths of the celebrity’s roots in the culture, says Corey. “People like the Kardashians are entrenched enough in the establishment by now that to ‘cancel’ them would be like ‘cancelling’ Amazon. No amount of discourse will succeed at that,” she explains.

“Cancelling someone only works when the public wants to cancel you,” adds Jackson. “Also, now being cancelled has become a badge of honour. So many people claim they were cancelled when they weren’t. We’re now in the age of the cancelled chic.”

It is possible we’re at a stage where celebrities are now virtually uncancellable. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing: there are many cases where celebrities have been cancelled for comparably innocuous reasons – like Lil Nas X getting dragged for tweets that potentially weren’t even posted by him – and, obviously, people can change! But equally, it is very alarming when people accused of abuse seem to completely disregard those allegations and instead choose to profit from them.

It seems like over time, cancellation is starting to become a form of sport or entertainment for people, which will lead to cynical efforts to profit from everyone’s addiction to spectacle. And the reactionary nature of social media will only add fuel to the fire. “We live in the ‘post-truth’ era in media, and the more confused people are by the narratives arriving on their feeds, the more polarised we will all become by just picking sides we’ve decided are more aligned with our general self-concepts,” says Corey.

But while courting controversy may work for the Donald Trumps and the Kim Kardashians of the world, it won’t work for everyone. “I think that moving in this direction is showing a callousness that won’t resonate with the majority – and it isn’t,” says Lauren Stralo, PR supervisor at LevLane. “People aren’t happy – critics and fans alike. Monetising off the pain and suffering of someone else might attract a new audience now – and might even gain them some sympathy and support – but are you resonating with the audience you really want to be resonating with?”

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