OPINION | 'Cancel culture' isn’t why your faves are losing jobs, it's their actions

My Twitter feed is often in a hot debate over whether a celebrity should be held accountable for their controversial actions or not. However, users are quick to blame the faceless internet for their favourites losing employment opportunities.

Let’s get one thing straight: the rich and famous aren’t losing their jobs to the perils of the internet; it’s because of their actions. As poet Ntsiki Mazwai said, “You don't lose your livelihood because of Twitter ... you lose it because of your behaviour.” 

Cancel culture: a buzzword on everyone’s lips these days. It refers to the withdrawal of support for public figures after they have done something deemed objectionable. Though this culture of calling out celebs may seem to be from the age of social media, it’s not like they weren't being held accountable before.

Since the dawn of celebrity culture, the famous have been held accountable for their words and actions. When musician Jub Jub was convicted for killing four schoolchildren and leaving two others permanently brain damaged, Mzansi showed their anger. It may have not been online, but the public still held the star accountable for his crime.

A few weeks ago, former radio host MacG came under fire for his comments on the LGBTQI+ community. On Podcast and Chill with MacG, the star and co-host Sol Phenduka had questions about transgender identity. The pair have since apologised but have taken it upon themselves to address being “almost cancelled” by fans and celebrities alike.

MacG called out celebs for their “biased cancel culture”. The star believed that “bigger” names in the industry could survive almost being cancelled, but the same did not apply to he and Sol “because we are nobodies”.

However, what MacG failed to consider was that maybe celebrities are held to a standard that doesn’t allow them to do as they please. Perhaps bigger names can handle the onslaught of public reaction, but cancelling MacG has nothing to do with him being an underdog creator.

The public rightfully reacted to his content and were vocal about their disagreements, leading to Old Mutual withdrawing its sponsorship. 

There aren’t different rules for the internet. A lot of people believe they can come online to a space where they are free of consequences.

But you’re a celebrity. You’re a household name, fans are interested in what you have to say. And if you say something considered “out of turn”, don’t be quick to blame others for you being called out in a world where actions have consequences.

Dear celebs, please remember you aren’t exempt from being called out because you just want to live your life. That’s not how it works. Just remember Newton’s third law — every action has an opposite or equal reaction (not a scientist here, but whatever you put into the world will come back to you).

The public isn’t exempt from cancel culture either. And sometimes, the law has had to intervene. 

Who could forget the infamous real estate agent Penny Sparrow, whose Facebook post went viral after she compared black beachgoers on New Year’s Day to “monkeys”.

More than just posing challenges to her career, the realtor was hauled to court by the ANC for hate speech as well as criminal charges. She pleaded guilty to charges of crimen injuria and paid a penalty of R5,000 to avoid jail time.

While the internet may be split on the matter, people losing their livelihoods is the desired resolution when it comes to cancel culture.

Even as children, we are taught that our actions have consequences. You touch a bee’s nest, you will get stung. And celebrities asking to be pardoned from their consistent mistakes is a smack in the face of those who actually own up to their mistakes.