I am in favour of Cancel Culture, but before I get into it, I’m going to skip to my end point and say that it’s ineffectual and doesn’t actually work.
That statement may be contested. I’d like to be given examples of anyone living that has been successfully cancelled, because I can’t think of any.
Can you?
It’s one of those hotly debated issued that people appear to get very concerned about, with warnings of censorship, fascism and ‘Woke Lefties’ policing language.
*sigh*
So why are people being cancelled in the first place and what does getting cancelled really mean?
Generally, the people getting cancelled tend to be celebrities or people in positions of power. Perhaps their crime wasn’t something that is punishable by law?
Maybe they were taken to court but weren’t prosecuted because of their status or they had good lawyers?
When somebody does or says something abhorrent and faces zero consequences, it can be incredibly frustrating, especially if they’re guilty, didn’t learn from it and double down on the poor behaviour.
So what can we the people do about that?
We can un-follow them on social media, stop buying, watching, or listening to their music, art, comedy etc.
Spread the word, encourage others to boycott their work and also discourage employers from hiring them in future.
It’s not exactly vigilante justice or busting out a guillotine is it? But those are the tactics employed by the general public when attempting to cancel someone. I say attempt, because these things won’t necessarily have much of an impact on a millionaire/billionaire.
They will also have diehard fans who stick with them no matter what and enough apathetic people to sit on the fence and continue to consume and subscribe to their work.
The targets of Cancel Culture are still given media platforms, they still have money and resources, they may have lost a significant amount of respect and followers, but they’re still visible.
To truly cancel someone would involve removing all their social media accounts and banning them from re-joining. Not allowing any of their media to be sold or accessed anymore, thus removing their income revenue as well as deleting content from all media platforms to erase their cultural footprint. Now that seems like a real punishment!
None of that has ever happened as far as I know. I’m not even sure it would be possible. The internet remembers and the comments are forever!
The Joker film 2019 featured a Gary Glitter song, 28 Years Later, released in 2025 had a gang all dressed as Jimmy Saville, so… yeah.
The dangerous thing that can happen when somebody claims to have been cancelled is that they’re given more attention and media coverage because it makes a good story! The media loves an ‘attack on free speech’ story.
They could potentially become a martyr for a particular issue/cause or they might even be given a redemption arc thanks to the media. *pukes*
I believe in redemption by the way, when it’s honest and not a ploy.
So what crimes deserve the punishment of cancellation?
That is a collective societal decision and works on a case by case basis, but let’s look at the most obvious two off the top of my head. J.K Rowling and Graham Linehan.
Both have been very vocally anti-trans. Rowling has used her considerable wealth to help fund and donate to groups like ‘The J.K. Rowling Women’s Fund (JKRWF)’ which is an organisation ‘fighting to retain women’s sex-based rights’ in workplaces and public spaces. This has been criticised as a vehicle for anti-trans advocacy as it specifically targets cases than challenge trans-inclusive policies. ‘For Women Scotland’ made and won a legal challenge in 2025 regarding the definition of ‘woman’ in the Equality Act, having received her backing and a large donation of money. ‘Beira’s Place’ founded in 2022 and funded by Rowling is a sexual assault support centre in Edinburgh. This centre explicitly excludes trans women from its services and staff.
All of this is an attempt by Rowling to ‘protect women and their rights’ which as a general statement I can’t find fault with. Her execution however has been terrible and caused real harm.
Since the redefining of ‘women’ in the Equality Act, there have been incidents of cis women being challenged, harassed and accused of being men in women’s spaces, simply because they might appear more masculine to whatever self proclaimed genital police, trans-vestigator happens to be in the toilet at the same time.
It’s fucked up. It’s also a whole separate issue.
Linehan used Twitter/X to say homophobic and transphobic things which led to him getting ‘Cancelled’ and even arrested in September 2025 under suspicion of inciting violence. He was released without charge on bail, under the condition he not post on X… the following week that condition was dropped.
Both he and Rowling have allied themselves with TERFS (Trans Exclusionary Radical Feminists) personally I think they need to drop ‘feminists’ as they are most definitely not upholding feminist values and ideology.
More recently, in February 2026, Linehan testified before a US Congressional committee regarding online censorship, citing his experiences as a warning about the suppression of free speech.
He also shared a post on social media calling for the removal of the 19th Amendment, which gives women the right to vote.
So, both scumbags are advocating for women’s safety by attacking the trans community and stripping away their rights at the same time causing harm to the very women they claim to want to protect!
Linehan probably has felt the financial damage to his career more than Rowling through Cancel Culture, but he’s still being platformed, he’s still earning royalties, he’s still making headlines and being talked about.
In what way is that cancelled?
Lastly, let’s look at the dangers of Cancel Culture, why is it bad and what can go wrong?
The first, most debated issue is freedom of speech, which appears to be important to everyone regardless of political leanings.
This is simple really, there is a line, it’s when opinion becomes hate speech or when repeating lies or misinformation causes harm. Even then, hate speech won’t necessarily be punished because it’s omnipresent and actually impossible for the Police to police. It takes individuals or groups to campaign or prosecute before anything actually happens.
It’s that lack of consequences for hate speech which has contributed to the rise of Cancel Culture. It’s collective social punishment for those that shouldn’t be tolerated or listened to.
Once again, it’s the paradox of tolerance.
Free speech isn’t actually under attack, nor is there any real danger of being arrested for ‘Saying you’re English these days’ all that’s really happened is society has raised the bar a little. People challenge shitty language and behaviour more regularly and openly now. That’s it.
But the media and Right, love to complain about it and play the victim when they get told off, especially if it happens publicly.
What if the person getting cancelled is innocent?
Well, that’s a legitimate concern. The same thing that happens when an innocent person is sent to prison perhaps? How often does that happen? How many people are in prison for possession of weed? A minor crime.
Surely that’s a bigger problem than Cancel Culture?
How many people have wrongfully been ‘Cancelled’?
I can’t think of one.
I can’t think of a single person who has even been successfully cancelled and not made a comeback of some kind! They usually find a new audience to the Right. Louis C.K, Roseanne Barr, Russell Brand and Graham Linehan, off the top of my head.
One thing I hadn’t considered was the impact of somebody being cancelled in a smaller social group. Not a celebrity, just a regular person who for whatever reason might deserve it, or they might be the victim of bullying and a campaign of hate and lies.
Holy shit, that’s evil. But is that actually Cancel Culture? It might be the same tactics sure, but the intent is very different and an important distinction. Anyone who falls victim to that is very unfortunate indeed and I can see how that would ruin somebody’s life if they’re suddenly unable to get a job or even go out in public without getting harassed!
They’re not being punished for committing a crime, they’re the target of cruel bullies.
People voicing the dangers of Cancel Culture need to remember that those exact same social punishments are experienced by POC, women, disabled people, the LGBTQIA community, immigrants and whoever else might be subject to prejudice and oppression by society at large. Every. Fucking. Day.
For them it’s institutional and it permeates society, like boycotting a queer business, being shouted at and threatened for having a rainbow flag at work. That’s erasure, oppression and punishment for simply existing. It is not the same as holding the powerful to account.
You could argue that those on the Left, minorities, etc. Have been the victims of Cancel Culture and a campaign of suppression and erasure for hundreds of years. But since the advent of more accessible media, social media and being more organised, the general public and Left have been able to fight back using the same tools and tactics.
Only this time it’s being labelled as dangerous because of who they choose to target.
Before being cancelled was a thing, people still socially punished bad behaviour it just didn’t have a name. Boycotting or ostracising is the same thing right? Anyway, my point is this isn’t new. It’s just being sensationalised and used as another stick to bash the Left with and as I said at the very start, it doesn’t actually work, in terms of being an effective punishment or having a lasting positive impact.
You can have all the evidence in the world, testimonies, direct quotes on film of somebody saying the shittiest things and even confessing to certain acts, but those in positions of power often face zero consequences.
We want justice and that’s what this conversation is really about.
So if we can cancel people, make them feel any kind of consequences, I think we should do it.
Red Threads 