The court of public opinion is now dead. Before 2020, people used the internet to judge others in the public eye in a way that seems much different from how it is today. Once COVID hit and everyone was online all the time, cancel culture became weaker.
Cancel Culture is an online community that boycotts people or companies and takes away their support for an unacceptable action or belief. Canceling somebody meant to remove them from their job or way of life due to something that they have done. Today, that’s just not the case anymore.
In the past, when a person was cancelled, it was like removing them entirely or at least limiting their audience and impacting their popularity significantly. However, canceling someone today reflects a different way of thinking. Cancelling someone today is more about calling someone out, getting mad at them for a short period of time — maybe just a few weeks — and then forgetting and forgiving what they did.
One person who was famously cancelled is well-known celebrity chef Paula Deen, who was cancelled in 2013 and faced significant backlash and criticism for behavior that was racist and offensive towards African Americans and black people. According to TikToker @springflingqueens, Deen was a highly visible celebrity chef who owned restaurants and gained popularity through TV, cookbooks, and her restaurants. Deen was everywhere, until she wasn’t.
Deen’s issue began in June of 2013 when a lawsuit against her by one of her managers, Lisa Jackson, accused her of racial discrimination became public. In 2013, NBC News reported that Deen had been calling people in her circle the N-word, and she reportedly used the hard-r. CNN also reported on Deen’s behavior, noting that she wanted to have a wedding for her brother where an all-black wait staff would wear white shirts and black pants. She allegedly said, “You know, in the Shirley Temple days, they used to tap dance around. Now that would be a true southern wedding, wouldn’t it?” This was just one example of, what were allegedly many, racist comments she made.
At the time, the internet jury was quick to cancel Deen. After these allegations were confirmed – she essentially came clean regarding her actions – people were quick to stop supporting her. Deen’s transgressions caused her to lose millions of dollars as companies working with her, including Food Network, Walmart, Target, J.C. Penny, dropped her. Deen faced the consequences of cancel culture back when the court of public opinion used to be much harsher. Deen’s actions were wrong, and while she has appeared in some places recently discussing what happened, she is essentially irrelevant. Deen’s cancellation represents a public person who got what they deserved. Her actions were racist, and a harsher, stricter way of thinking at the time cut her out.
Unlike Deen, another individual who saw himself canceled again after 2020, is makeup influencer James Charles, who was able to recover from the many times he had been canceled. According to TikTok user @gwynreads, Charles had two serious scandals come to light that led to his downfall. The first took place in 2017 and the second in 2021. Charles began posting his makeup tutorials on social media in 2015, and his popularity really took off by 2017. In the same year, Charles posted an offensive tweet basically joking about catching Ebola in Africa, which he had visited. Charles’s “joke” was seen as an offensive comment because he was adding to a stereotype about Africa. As a result of this, a large beauty brand, CoverGirl, dropped him as a spokesperson, which was a big deal because he was the first and only male to be working with the billion-dollar company at the time. However, people eventually got over this, and Charles gained back his audience over time. By 2020, he was back to his regular upload schedule.
In 2021, another allegation against Charles became public. Megan Stone and Jacqueline Laurean Yates of ABC News reported on a sixteen-year-old boy who reported that Charles was allegedly sending inappropriate text messages and photos to him. Then, more underage boys come out with the same allegation. Shortly after the allegations against him came out, Charles released an apology video saying he had been in contact with these boys, but he did not know they were underage. Later, he deleted that video. Shortly after this, Kelsey Vlamis of Business Insider reported that another brand, Morphe, dropped Charles, and also his YouTube channel got demonetized. After this, everyone hated James Charles again, though he worked on his reputation. Ultimately, everyone mostly forgot what he did, and, again, he became popular, especially on TikTok. So, this cancellation was ineffective, or at least it was temporary.
Believe it or not, another scandal arose in May of 2025, and it is ongoing. Another influencer, Kayle Malecc, a former friend of Charles, came out saying Charles is dating her abusive ex-boyfriend right after this boyfriend did horrible things to her. Charles gave the ex-boyfriend a place to stay despite knowing what he did to Malecc and being her friend. Many people think that James Charles should not have a career with all the scandals he’s had, but he is really good at public perception and managing all his hate.
Personally, I didn’t know Paula Deen existed until I did research, which proves my point on cancel culture a little more. The difference between Paula Deen’s scandal and James Charles’ is that Deen has been held accountable for her actions and is not as popular anymore, but Charles has had multiple scandals and is still seen as a popular icon. Despite all of his poor actions, he is not sorry for them, even as he continues to be exposed for his actions, even today.
Influencers like James Charles still have their career despite not really taking accountability for what they did. They release apology videos that audiences can tell are fake, and then continue to make poor decisions. As a society, we need to stop this kind of blind following of celebrities and truly hold them accountable for their actions. By giving them so many chances and letting them do as they wish today, we have truly shown that the court of public opinion is not as ruthless as it used to be.
