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From Carano to Kimmel: cancel culture isn’t about free speech, it’s about power

Jimmy Kimmel is the latest celebrity to face the axe. His sudden “cancellation” has triggered street protests, online fury, and endless cries of hypocrisy. The refrain is familiar: “Why defend Kimmel if you didn’t defend Gina Carano, Roseanne, or Trump?”

But here’s the thing. Most of the so-called martyrs of “cancel culture” weren’t silenced for harmless opinions. They spread racism, antisemitism, or outright hate. Gina Carano compared being a Republican to being Jewish in Nazi Germany. Roseanne Barr called a Black woman an “ape”. Donald Trump used his platform to whip up a violent insurrection. This isn’t noble dissent – it’s discrimination and dangerous rhetoric dressed up as “free speech”.

Jimmy Kimmel axed: the loyalty test

This social media user cut straight to the chase:

But here’s the problem: lumping Carano, Rowling, and Trump together under the “free speech” banner erases the reality of what they actually said. They weren’t dropped because they were brave truth-tellers. They were dropped because they caused real harm – and corporations decided they weren’t worth the brand damage.

It’s a loyalty test dressed up as principle. But there’s no neutral ground here. Disney didn’t drop Carano because she questioned government policy. It dropped her after repeated antisemitic and conspiratorial posts. Hollywood isn’t suddenly drawing hard lines – it’s just shifting them when a brand starts to look vulnerable.

Consumer theatre and selective outrage

Some frame cancellation as a personal boycott. One user explained how they cancelled Disney+ over Carano, then roped in friends to do the same:

This is protest as consumer theatre. It’s not about holding corporations accountable for exploitation, climate destruction, or union busting. It’s about defending your chosen celebrity. And because it’s tribal, the target shifts: Carano’s firing is “woke censorship”, while Kimmel’s is “spineless corporate pandering”. The outrage depends entirely on who you already support.

Protest or circus?

In New York, people gathered outside ABC studios chanting “ABC, grow a spine!” and even declaring “we are facing fascism”:

Predictably, detractors rushed to mock them:

And that’s the game. Protesters put their bodies on the line because decisions made in boardrooms affect culture, jobs, and public debate. Meanwhile, critics sneer from the sidelines, painting every act of dissent as clownish. The irony? The real circus isn’t on the pavement – it’s in corporate offices where “cancellations” are reduced to brand management.

Fact-checks and shrugs

Others tried to anchor the discussion in fact. Meanwhile, indifference showed up too:

 

Together, these reactions reveal the gulf. For some, Carano is a martyr. For others, she’s irrelevant. But in both cases, the real issue – how much power corporations hold over who gets platforms and who doesn’t – gets buried.

Silence in Hollywood

This social media user turned her anger towards Carano’s co-star Pedro Pascal:

Fans wanted solidarity. They got nothing. Because actors know exactly how the industry works: defending a colleague dumped for bigotry is career suicide.

The bigger picture

As this social media user put it:

The answer is obvious. Carano’s posts crossed a line into antisemitism, and Disney cut her. Roseanne’s tweet dripped with racism, and ABC dropped her. Trump incited violence against democracy, and platforms finally shut him down.

They weren’t misunderstood geniuses. They were bad actors who crossed clear lines.

Let’s stop pretending it’s about free speech

From Carano to Kimmel, cancel culture outrage always plays the same game. It paints celebrities as free-speech martyrs while quietly ignoring what they actually did.

Yet let’s stop pretending.

Carano didn’t lose work for “dissent”. Instead, she amplified antisemitism, and Disney cut her. Likewise, Roseanne didn’t face consequences for being edgy. Rather, she tweeted racist abuse, and ABC dropped her. In the same way, Trump didn’t get banned for his politics. Instead, he incited an attack on democracy, and platforms shut him down.

So yes – ‘cancel culture’ runs on power: who holds it, who wields it, and who gets away with it.

At the same time, it’s also about accountability. And if your so-called martyrs keep turning out to be racists, bigots, or bullies, then maybe the problem isn’t cancellation. Instead, the problem is who you’re choosing to defend.

Feature image via Screengrab.

By Vannessa Viljoen

This post was originally published on Canary.