In pictures: Celebrities who have been caught in the web of cancel culture

Actress Jennifer Aniston is done with the cancel culture — the culture of mass disapproval to exert pressure. “I just don’t understand what it means … Is there no redemption? I don’t know. I don’t put everybody in the Harvey Weinstein basket,” she told 'The Hollywood Reporter' recently. And yes, she was cancelled for that! But, she does have a point. Does every act, big and small, deserve cancelling? We take a look at prominent celebrities who have been cancelled. Deserved? You decide!

Jamie Foxx was cancelled over a cryptic Instagram post that some users labelled as “anti-Semitic”. And Jennifer Aniston was cancelled because she had cancelled Foxx. And then, Aniston said she was weary of being cancelled, which obviously didn’t go down well with those looking for a reason to cancel her.

Rapper Ye, formerly Kanye West, has a happy knack of traipsing in and out of trouble. His anti-Semitic comments cost him a fortune in 2022. Everyone seemed to drop him like a hot brick – from his lawyer and agent to social media sites and endorsement partners like Adidas, Gap and Balenciaga. According to a Forbes report, his estimated worth plunged from US$2 billion to US$400 million. While fans tried to make the rapper a billionaire again by setting up a GoFundMe, the site shut the page. West was richer by $5.

Who can forget that moment when Will Smith slapped Chris Rock on the Oscar stage? Smith was enraged when Rock, 57, joked about his wife, 51-year-old Jada Pickett Smith’s shorn head, asking her if she was going to be in “G.I. Jane 2.” Later, Smith apologised for his behaviour: “My behaviour at last night’s Academy Awards was unacceptable and inexcusable. Jokes at my expense are a part of the job, but a joke about my Jada’s medical condition [alopecia] was too much for me to bear and I reacted emotionally… I would like to publicly apologise to you, Chris. I was out of line and I was wrong. I am embarrassed and my actions were not indicative of the man I want to be. There is no place for violence in a world of love and kindness.”

Ellen DeGeneres built her career on being nice, ‘Vox’ wrote. But behind the talk show host’s geniality was another story. Former employees accused her of building a toxic workplace where discrimination and sexual harassment ruled. With allegations spiralling, DeGeneres mailed an apology to her staff: “On day one of our show, I told everyone in our first meeting that The Ellen DeGeneres Show would be a place of happiness — no one would ever raise their voice, and everyone would be treated with respect… Obviously, something changed, and I am disappointed to learn that this has not been the case. And for that, I am sorry. Anyone who knows me knows it’s the opposite of what I believe and what I hoped for our show.”

British actor James Corden was called out by the owner of a popular New York City restaurant for being the most abusive customer their staff had ever faced. Keith McNally, the owner of Balthazar restaurant, tweeted: “James Corden is a hugely gifted comedian, but a tiny Cretin of a man. And the most abusive customer to my Balthazar servers since the restaurant opened 25 years ago.” However, McNally later said that Corden had apologised profusely and that all was forgiven. But netizens were far more slow in forgiving.

First, Olivia Wilde told ‘Variety’ in an interview that she had fired Shia LeBoeuf from ‘Don’t Worry Darling’ since “his process was not conducive to the ethos that I demand in my productions. He has a process that, in some ways, seems to require a combative energy, and I don’t personally believe that is conducive to the best performances.” But LeBoeuf had a different version, and he asserted that he chose to leave the production because he didn’t feel the actors were given adequate time to rehearse. In fact, a leaked video of Wilde showed her pleading with LeBoeuf not to leave the cast. That’s when Wilde got a taste of cancel culture.