The job of comedians has complicated since cancel culture took hold of society. Artists like Gina Carano and comedians like Dave Chappelle have been subject to cancellation by progressivism and woke corporations like Disney.
Many of those who have been canceled, and another large group who have not, have spoken out against this new modus operandi that attacks freedom of speech. However, American comedian Katt Williams sat down with rapper Joe Budden, and his co-hosts Mal and Rory on The Joe Budden Podcast to defend the cancel culture.
About halfway through the episode, Budden asked Williams about cancel culture and the difficulty it has caused comedians to do their jobs. The comedian known for his controversial jokes — often calling himself a ‘pimp’ — responded by disavowing the existence of cancel culture and saying that it has a utility, contradicting himself in less than a minute.
Williams responded that “a lot of these things are for the benefit of all.” He added that “nobody likes the speed limit, but it’s necessary. Nobody likes the road shoulder, but it’s there for a reason. My point is that [people] weren’t as much fun when they could say whatever they wanted.”
He then proceeded to deny the existence of cancel culture, “At the end of the day, there is no cancel culture. Cancellation doesn’t have its own culture.”
For Williams, cancellation is done for the reasons it is done and it helped who it should have helped. But not much sustenance can be found in Williams’ words, given that, for example, Gina Carano was canceled by Disney (losing her job) and hordes on Twitter for putting two meaningless words in her profile bio.
The comedian believes that one should be more sensitive in the way one speaks. “I mean, your job as a comedian is to please as many people with your art… don’t call someone out with this word when you know it affects all these people.”
To close his response, Williams questioned the talent of comedians who don’t want to give in to the woke culture and obey its standards.
Other high-profile comedians like Ricky Gervais have spoken out against cancel culture. “When people are trying to get someone fired because they don’t like their opinion about something that’s nothing to do with their job, that’s what I call cancel culture and that’s not cool,” said Gervais.
Rafael Valera, Venezuelan, student of Political Science, political exile in São Paulo, Brazil since 2017 // Rafael Valera, venezolano, es estudiante de Ciencias Políticas y exiliado político en São Paulo, Brasil desde 2017