If He Is Truly Canceled, I Will Eat A Bug

JK Rowling, Dave Chappelle, Whoopi Goldberg, the last few months have been littered with celebrities saying things that got them “cancelled”.

In my article, The Corrosive Cost of Cancel Culture, I wrote about the latest attempt to de-platform Joe Rogan over a clip of an undeniably racist joke he told nine years ago. I have no particular interest in defending him, but I thought it important to point out that the rest of the clip, while not excusing the joke, does make it clear that his intentions were basically good (you can watch it here).

We’re all susceptible to the reactionary instincts that leads to cancel culture. We all know what it’s like to judge too quickly or too harshly. Especially because the “evidence” we use to make our judgements is so often these brief, selectively-edited snippets that rarely give us enough context to understand the full story, but always give us enough information to feel outraged.

After presumably already being outraged, J got 40 words into his reply before losing interest in context.

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J:

Huh. So I clicked on the Planet of the Apes clip. Wanted to be fair. Wanted to get the context. Watched the entire 5:22. Here are his "insights:"

It was cool watching Planet of the Apes in a black neighborhood.

People on Twitter called me racist? Fuck them!

Black people talk in movies and it's cool.

Black people bring their babies to movies ... whaa! .. but it's cool.

The previews were white and that was kind of wrong.

I was high as fuck!

There is little black representation in movies.

Planet of the Apes is a dope movie.

Yeah.

Such brilliant, enlightened commentary. Black people are poorly represented in movies? Stop the presses.

I'm sorry. Black people have been oppressed and treated like animals and compared to animals for hundreds of years and I don't have time to wait for Joe Rogan to work out his "clumsiness." Maybe you do. I don't. Which is it? Is he the sharp, brilliant mind his defenders say he is, or is he a bumbling oaf who doesn't know he probably shouldn't compare a black neighborhood to Planet of the Apes in the Year of our Lord 2022? Or whenever he said it. I honestly couldn't give a fuck.

And nope. Nobody is canceling Joe Rogan. He is going to be just fine. If he is truly canceled, I will eat a bug and send you the video.

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Steve QJ:

Nobody is canceling Joe Rogan. He is going to be just fine. If he is truly canceled, I will eat a bug and send you the video.

Haha, I love this argument. What exactly is the standard for a "real" cancellation? Complete social and financial annihilation? Should we put him in the stocks in the village square and throw rotten tomatoes at him? Otherwise everything's just fine? Great job of demonstrating your compassion.

Also, great job of refuting arguments that I didn't make. And kudos for watching the entire clip and then completely misrepresenting it. If you "wanted to be fair", try watching it without deciding ahead of time that you're going to dishonestly interpret it in the most uncharitable and inaccurate light possible.

Rogan clarifies that he's talking about "this particular black neighbourhood." Not black people. He doesn't say "Fuck them" to the people calling him racist. That's what they're saying to him. He just points out that he was saying what a positive experience it was. It's so annoying to have to sound as if I'm trying to defend Rogan simply because people insist on lying and I can't abide the dishonesty.

You're welcome to dislike Joe Rogan. But at least be honest when you criticise him. It shouldn't be hard, he's said a lot of stupid stuff over the years. In fact another of the impressive number of misrepresentations you've managed to cram into this brief reply is the implication that I've suggested his "insights" were brilliant and enlightened. I pretty much said exactly the opposite.

I'm simply pointing out that acting as if black people being "oppressed and treated like animals" has anything to do with, or is made worse by, his podcast is asinine.

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J:

Well now, the amorphous definition of cancellation goes both ways, doesn't it? Maybe you're the one wringing your hands over "cancel culture" when maybe people aren't so canceled after all.

He didn't say all black people, he said "this particular black neighbourhood." Ah - that makes it so much better.

Hey, Just as I'm welcome to dislike Joe Rogan, you're welcome to die on this hill. If you feel the world would be worse off without Rogan's n-word spewing and ape comparisons (on his "clumsy" way to his incisive musings), have at it.

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Steve QJ:

Ah - that makes it so much better.

Yes it does. Because here he's simply talking about what he saw with his own two eyes in a particular black neighbourhood. If you don't see the importance of the distinction between the specific and the general, you probably shouldn't be claiming you're against racism.

I'm not sure what you mean about the definition of cancel culture "going both ways". But I'm not dying on a hill. And certainly not for Joe Rogan. I just "feel the world is worse off" when we engage in disingenuous, puritanical attacks on people's character. I feel the world is worse off when we represent disagreements dishonestly. I think the world is worse off when we demonise each other instead of talking to each other.

And because I actually believe in these principles, I extend them to everybody. Even people I sometimes disagree with.

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Whenever I write about cancel culture, somebody will dive into the comments to insist that the latest target of the mob wasn’t really cancelled. As I said to J, it’s as if anything short of total annihilation is excusable in their pursuit of “accountability.”

But not only does this reveal the utter failure of empathy that characterises the supporters of this movement, it reveals how little it has to do with justice.

Whether you think Rogan is a racist because of his nine-year-old joke, whether you think Rowling and Chappelle are transphobes because of comments that were frequently supportive of trans people, is there any room to argue that their words deserve their social and financial annihilation?

Of course not.

This is one reason why the language used to describe speech has become so hyperbolic. Rowling is accused of causing the literal murder of trans people because she has perfectly reasonable concerns about self ID laws. Rogan’s crappy joke is described as “unleashing lethal forces” that were casually compared to the Rwandan genocide.

Now these are crimes that might justify the witch hunts against them.

We are fighting a battle over language. Both to uphold the meaning and proportion of our words, and also to continue using them for their intended purpose; to share ideas. Speech will always be imperfect. There’s always a chance we’ll offend somebody when we attempt to tell the truth. But there's also a chance we’ll understand each other better. That’s why it’s so important that we try.