Cancel culture is an ever-growing, ever-evolving part of today’s society. It seems as though no celebrity or famous person – no matter how adored – is safe from it. That is, all except for one: Snoop Dogg. The rapper and producer dared the world to even try and cancel him. According to him, his fan base is bigger than cancel culture.
Snoop Dogg Says He Can’t Be Canceled
In a recent interview, the rapper, entertainer, and producer Snoop Dogg, whose career spans now three decades, said that he can’t be canceled. He even went so far as to dare society and pop culture to try and cancel him. According to him, his fan base is so big and so loyal, they just simply wouldn’t allow for it. (1)
“I wish a motherf***a would try to cancel me. … [Cancel culture] is only believable if you believe it when they trying to cancel you,” he said in the interview. “You see DaBaby, you see Dave Chappelle, you see certain motherf***as, like, ‘If you don’t get out of here with that s***.’ Give me a week, I’ll be back up. You got to know that your base is your base. The cancel community is not bigger than my fanbase. I beg to differ.” (1)
A Career Not Without Controversy
Snoop Dogg might have just been correct in his statement about him versus cancel culture. After all, over his 30-year career which began in 1992, he has been through his fair share of controversies, including recent ones. (2)
In February 2020, he made some rather harsh public comments directed at Gayle King, Oprah’s best friend. King questioned Lisa Leslie in an interview about Kobe Bryant’s legacy in an interview following his death. She asked Leslie if she thought allegations made about the iconic basketball player in the past may have tarnished his reputation. Snoop Dogg was offended by the suggestion and jumped to defend the late basketball star, though in a rather rude way. Eventually, his mother convinced him to apologize to King for his comments.
Another controversial stance the rapper has taken in recent years is in support of incarcerated comedian Bill Cosby. Snoop Dogg called for Cosby’s release, despite the approximately 60 women who have come out with allegations of sexual assault against him. Despite all of this, cancel culture still has not come for him.
Now, he is calling out what he calls “the cancel community” to even try. Set to perform at the SuperBowl with Dr. Dre, Mary J. Blige, Eminem, and Kendrick Lamar. Podcast host Gregg Kelly decided to follow up on Snoop Dogg’s challenge to cancel culture, asking his Twitter followers to call the NFL and let them know how they really feel about Snoop Dogg performing at the Superbowl.
“Call 212-450-2000. Ask for Roger Goodell, “the commish.” he wrote.
So far, it doesn’t seem as though much has come from this challenge.
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What Is Cancel Culture?
Cancel culture is an ever-evolving trend that promotes “canceling” people, brands, or shows and movies because of what some consider to be offensive or problematic remarks or ideologies. (2) 2021 saw a variety of celebrities “canceled”, from Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling to Glee star Lea Michelle, to even America’s formerly favorite talk-show host Ellen DeGeneres. It wasn’t just celebrities, either. A variety of Dr. Seuss’s books got the ax, and cancel culture held no mercy for Dumbo, The Aristocats, and The Looney Tune’s Pepe Le Pew. (3)
People, characters, books, and films are “canceled” for a variety of reasons. Racist, sexist, misogynistic, and/or homophobic imagery, themes, statements, or remarks are the most common reasons that cause cancelation. At first, cancel culture was seen as a bold statement. Sort of a ‘Society will no longer put up with discrimination and bigotry’ movement. Today, however, more and more people are calling it out for being overly toxic.
Professor sociology and criminology at Villanova University Dr. Jill McCorkel says that cancel culture isn’t actually anything new. She says that for years society has “canceled” or ostracized people for behaving outside of perceived societal norms or values. This is just another version of that.
“Cancel culture is an extension of or a contemporary evolution of a much bolder set of social processes that we can see in the form of banishment,” she said. “[They] are designed to reinforce the set of norms.”
Accountability vs Censorship
There are now two sides to the cancel culture fight. One side loves cancel culture and views it as a way to keep people accountable for their words and actions. The other side, however, is calling it censorship or freedom of thought or expression. Others, as well, say that cancel culture doesn’t allow for people to grow or learn from their mistakes. (4)
“[Cancel culture is] trying to silence someone that does not have the same belief as you. Basically, [it’s] taking their First Amendment rights away. It violates affected people’s civil rights.” said one man.
“[Cancel culture] means rewriting history and stopping the acknowledgment of facts because they are offensive to a racial, religious, ethnic, economic group, etc. It is the rewriting of history to make people comfortable by ignoring facts – things that really happened – good or bad.” said another.
An increasing number of people are likening cancel culture to “mob mentality” to bury the careers and lives of people without any room for learning or improvement. Many are calling for the need to have meaningful conversations with people so they can learn and grow, rather than canceling them forever.
This is certainly a controversial movement – which side are you on?
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Sources
- “Why you can’t cancel Snoop Dogg: ‘I wish a motherf**** would try’.” Audacy. Maia Kedem. January 31, 2022.
- “Snoop Dogg References Chappelle, DaBaby While Ripping Cancel Culture: ‘Wish a Motherf*cker Would Try to Cancel Me’.” Complex. Joe Price. January 27, 2022.
- “Why we can’t stop fighting about cancel culture.” Vox. Aja Romano. August 25, 2020.
- “What is cancel culture? Everything to know about the toxic online trend.” NY Post. Brooke Kato. August 31, 2021.
- “Americans and ‘Cancel Culture’: Where Some See Calls for Accountability, Others See Censorship, Punishment.” Pew Research. Emily A. Vogels, et al. MAY 19, 2021.