Cancel culture ain’t what it used to be, but it’s still a sizable force in the West.
We’re seeing that in real time, and it’s impacting singers, comedians, and authors alike. Part of this toxic trend stems from Hamas’ Oct. 7 slaughter of 1,200 Israelis and the ensuing Middle East war. Hold the “wrong” opinion on the crisis and endure protesters eager to silence your points of view.
Or worse.
Most Hollywood stars have remained silent on both the Hamas atrocities perpetrated against Israel on Oct. 7 and the terrorist group’s ongoing hostage crisis.
Comedians, who have suffered significantly from cancel culture’s wrath, still can’t tell their jokes their way.
A Seattle-based comedy club proved just that.
The Capitol Hill Comedy / Bar “un-booked” four prominent comedians earlier this month following pressure from “investors, local comedians, and neighborhood advocacy groups,” according to club owner/booker Jes Anderson.
The four in question — Kurt Metzger, Dave Smith, Jim Florentine, and Luis J. Gomez — didn’t say any one thing that sparked the cancellation. All could be described as “unwoke,” a description that could apply to most stand-up comedians of yore, from Lenny Bruce to George Carlin.
They say what they want to say without self-censoring their material.
Metzger leaked Anderson’s rationale for dismissing the four comedians on social media. The note ended on a curious note.
“We truly value the art of comedy and the diverse perspectives it brings to our lives.”
The four comics took the dismissal more or less in stride. They also mocked it aggressively to their respective fan bases.
Comedian Chrissie Mayr wouldn’t stand a chance at the Capitol Hill Comedy / Bar. She comically rages against woke overreach on stage and via her podcast. She also titled her 2023 comedy album “Live from January 6th.”
So, it’s not shocking to learn someone allegedly attacked her following a Feb. 24 New Jersey club appearance. Mayr, who is eight months pregnant, says she got pepper-sprayed during a post-show meet-and-greet with fans.
She emerged unhurt, but given her health status, that wasn’t guaranteed.
Jewish musicians are also getting a taste of cancel culture, mixed with a dash of anti-Semitism.
Harvard Chabad, a group of Jewish students at Harvard University, invited singer Ishay Ribo to play at the campus.
Ribo, who has sold out Madison Square Garden, nearly didn’t get a chance to sing a single note. Staffers at the Sinclair, a Cambridge theater, boycotted the event. The club had to hire workers to ensure the show went on as scheduled.
He had better luck than fellow Jewish musician Matisyahu.
The singer suffered not one but two cancellations at the proverbial last minute in recent weeks — the Rialto Theatre in Tucson and Meow Wolf in Santa Fe. Matisyahu blamed the cancellations on his religious identity.
“They do this because they are either anti-Semitic or have confused their empathy for the Palestinian people with hatred for someone like me who holds empathy for both Israelis and Palestinians,” he wrote on X.
The clubs blamed the cancellations on “safety concerns and staff shortages.”
Veteran actor Brett Gelman of “Stranger Things” fame recently tried his hand at writing. Gelman planned a four-city tour to promote his first short stories tome, “The Terrifying Realm of the Possible: Nearly True Stories.”
At least two of those bookstore appearances have been canceled.
Stops in San Francisco and Winnetka, Illinois, were scrapped, he claimed, due to “harassment and intimidation from antisemitic and anti-Israel protesters.”
Bill Petrocelli, the co-owner of the San Francisco store Book Passage, blamed the cancellation on “intemperate and ill-advised remarks that [Gelman] made against some other ethnic and social groups.”
Petrocelli wouldn’t share the specific verbiage that triggered the cancellation.
Late last year, Gelman teamed with the Israeli sketch comedy series “Eretz Nehederet” to mock anti-Israel university students.
Most Hollywood stars have remained silent on both the Hamas atrocities perpetrated against Israel on Oct. 7 and the terrorist group’s ongoing hostage crisis.
Not Michael Rapaport.
The pro-Israel actor flexes his X account to slam Hamas and support Israel’s war against the terrorist group. That didn’t go over well with pro-Palestinian activists and Antifa. They raged against the actor-turned stand-up comedian outside of his Helium Comedy Club appearance in Portland on Jan. 12.
The mob shot fireworks at the club and harassed patrons as they entered the building. The shows went on as scheduled despite the furious backlash.
Unbowed, Rapaport recently joined with “Eretz Nehederet” to mock his fellow actors for refusing to speak out on the hostages’ behalf. The sketch featured Rapaport hosting the upcoming Oscars telecast, using recent Academy Awards video clips to poke fun at Jewish stars like Seth Rogen for their silence.