Celebrities have always been in the hot seat. Every decision they make and each action they take is exposed to the harsh scrutiny of the public eye. Starting in the 2000s and continuing over the next couple decades, communicative technologies greatly developed. One example of this is the innovation of social media. The rapid rise in social media has created a new type of celebrity and consequently an even hotter hot seat: influencers and cancel culture.
Cancel culture is a phenomenon where a group of people decides to publicly ostracize an influencer or celebrity for actions that are found to be offensive and problematic. It is harsh, but that harshness is often needed as public figures are highly influential. They play a huge role in how society behaves and orientates itself and therefore should be criticized for their actions.
On the other hand, the culture itself, and those who participate in it, is often criticized for being too harsh and too sensitive since “cancelling” someone can ruin a person’s career; however, is this really the case?
While there have been instances of prominent figures losing sponsorships, brand deals, or missing out on other various expenditures, it is rarely seen that a person’s entire career is ruined because of one bad opinion or a poorly thought out action.
A prime example of this is YouTuber and make-up artist James Charles. His career took off in 2016 after he became CoverGirl’s first male spokesperson and ever since then his name continuously appears in the tabloids for doing something controversial. Despite being “cancelled” by the public multiple times, Charles still manages to keep his platform.
However, due to recent controversies surrounding Charles, we may be witnessing a shift in the superficial and finicky nature of cancel culture.
Recently, Spirit Airlines made the decision to end all operations as of May 2, 2026 which is resulting in a number of people losing their jobs. One of these former Spirit Airlines employees reached out to Charles asking him if he could donate to her GoFundMe.
Instead of simply ignoring the request, Charles posted a video publicly shaming and humiliating the former employee. This video received large amounts of backlash. The public claimed they finally have had enough of Charles and his actions and are “cancelling” him once again, for a final time.
Throughout the days following the incident, Charles has lost a large number of followers, and is continuing to do so. With this, many people are starting to call out cancel culture not for being too cruel but instead for being too forgiving, stating how nothing truly happens when someone is “cancelled.”
This change in attitude towards the highly polarized byproduct of social media may be the thing that ultimately allows it to flourish. There is a reason celebrities have always been in the hot seat, what they do can directly affect and shape society. The act of “cancelling” someone may seem merciless, but in today’s world when so much misconduct is allowed, that mercilessness may be what is needed to keep people in line.
