Janet Jackson is going on a North American tour starting next month. It seems to be selling reasonably well.
The Chicks, as they are now called, have a short residency in Las Vegas coming up followed by a European and North American tour. Sales are so-so (most shows have plenty of seats available) but they are performing.
I think there are two kinds of ‘cancellation’. One is where you piss off or frighten away the people who would hire you, and the other is where you piss off the audience and they stop paying attention to you.
I’m not sure the latter is really ‘cancellation’. More like not understanding, appreciating, or pandering to your audience. The Dixie Chicks fall into that category. They pandered to an extremely conservative, patriotic audience then pissed away their goodwill by attacking what they believed in. No one refused to book them or make their records, but their audience just went away. Know where your bread is buttered.
On the right, some actors have been driven into the embrace of the Daily Wire and Fox because they’ve been nearly blacklisted in Hollywood for their politics. That would include Robert Davi, James Woods, Jon Voight, Mark Wahlberg, Jim Caviezel, Gina Carano, Nick Searcy, Dean Cain, and others. Some of them still get a bit of Hollywood work, but their careers definitely took a dive in the Trump era.
There are conservatives in Hollywood who either weren’t cancelled, or who were but not for long. They fall into two categories - ones who keep their mouths shut and try to stay out of trouble by avoiding political commentary (Denzel Washington, Bruce Willis, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Sylvester Stallone), or those who just make the studios too much money. So Robert Downey Jr., Chris Pratt, Clint Eastwood and others get a lot of flak for their politics, but they are just too big to cancel.
Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson issued a blistering denouncement of Donald Trump’s leadership amid nationwide protests supporting the Black Lives Matter movement on Wednesday (June 3).
“Where are you? Where is our leader?” the star — who is black and Samoan — asked in his emotional video as he stared down the camera. “Where is our leader at this time … when our country is down on its knees, begging, pleading, hurt, angry, frustrated, in pain, begging and pleading with its arms out? Just wanting to be heard. Begging and pleading and praying for change?
During the nearly nine-minute-long video, The Rock also clapped back at the racist sentiment behind the “All Lives Matter” response to the protests. “Of course all lives matter,” he said. “Every single one, all lives matter, because we as Americans, we believe in inclusivity. We believe in acceptance; we believe in human rights. We believe in equality for all. That’s what we believe in, so of course all lives matter. But in this moment right now, this defining, pivotal, explosive moment where our country is down on its knees … we must say the words: Black lives matter.”
That’s why I had him in the category of ‘Republicans who keep their mouths shut’. Johnson was a fairly outspoken Republican until the Trump era. He spoke at the 2000 Republican convention. But he’s definitely anti-Trump, so he probably fits best as either an anti-Trump Republican like Mitt Romney, or perhaps he has moved to being an independent after seeing where the Republican party has gone.
It’s very convenient for your persecution narrative I’ll say that.
It’s also very convenient that only conservatives get really cancelled. When it happens to liberals it’s just organic backlash that they deserved.
Anyway, in reality, getting “cancelled” isn’t really something that happens if you are popular or talented enough to make others enough money. This has always been true.
First of all, take the personal shit to the pit where I don’t have to read it.
Second, I never said anything about only conservatives being cancelled. You are just making that up. My post was specifically about concervative cancellations, because that seems relevant. Lots of left-wing people have been cancelled as well, and I never said otherwise. But lots of people have been mentioning those, so I was just providing some examples from the other side.
I’m going to assume your scare quots are an attempt to point out a spelling error? If so, you might want to know that both spellings are correct. You can use canceled or cancelled. The second is more commonly used in the British Commonwealth, and I’m Canadian.
No, I didn’t care or notice your spelling choice.
Sure, but most of Ryder & Downey’s career issues were of their own making, not due to public outcry and opprobrium about drug use, etc…
I feel a key factor was that Gunn’s jokes had been made ten years earlier. When they were dug up by conservatives (who were angry about Gunn making current jokes about Trump) he acknowledged those earlier jokes were wrong and apologized.
I think it was longer than a month. We went through a Perry Mason binge last year, and I think Talman missed at least half a season. His presence was missed. None of his subs had his sly humor.
Latrell Sprewell made quite a comeback after he was suspended for choking his coach.
There is a big difference between being canceled for bad acts and people being afraid to back projects with their money because of erratic behavior. I don’t know if anyone disliked Downey because of his troubles. His talent was acknowledged and people felt sorry for him. If I remember correctly they were having trouble getting insurance for projects he was in. Coming back from that when he proved himself to be clean and reliable isn’t surprising.
Not sure how “canceled” he was but Chris Hardwick has some accusations against him and he was removed from his “Talking Dead” show for a bit but came back.
That’s what I’m saying! Nobody was particularly angered by Downey or Ryder’s drug troubles; rather it was the studios and backers who were leery of employing them until they straightened out. I remember the general feeling when they were discussed was more along the lines of “What a shame, he’s so talented, and I hope he gets his issues sorted out.”, not a “That damn, dirty drug user!” sort of feeling.
Contrast this with Kevin Spacey, whose career has cratered because people are outraged at his sexual assault behavior. No issues (that I’m aware of) with his work ethic, etc… from the studios.
To go back somewhat further in time, one of the most notorious (get it? You will in a minute) cases of Hollywood cancellation occurred around 1950 when Ingrid Bergman (there it is) started having an affair with Roberto Rossellini and she became pregnant. Reactions in the US were so unpleasant that she stayed in Europe for a few years. But she did marry and later divorce Rossellini, and all was forgiven by 1956 when she starred in the Hollywood studio production of Anastasia and then won her second Oscar for best actress.
Likewise, Aziz Ansari had an accusation leveled against him and he took a brief break from working.
Would Rob Lowe count?
Wasn’t it his appearance in Wayne’s World that re-opened doors for him? That’s my memory, and my thinking was that it showed he had a sense of humor.