NEWS4U JULY 2021 | OPINION
WHEN LATE NIGHT THOUGHTS ARE
BOURNE
with Freddie Bourne
Cancel culture was supposed to be about holding people accountable
what is hilarious is that when more of the story comes out and we find that the “awful” and “unpleasant” things they did may not have happened at all, we don’t apologize and own up to our mistakes.
I was all for it. Call them out. Don’t allow celebrity status and power to excuse someone from being held accountable for
Huh. We make a scene and hold nothing back, but once we find
their actions. But now, it’s all news mediums run to. And, some of
out we wrongly assumed the facts through a simple headline
it is unfounded. Or even completely false altogether.
and a quick read-through, we can’t simply say, “I’m sorry.” Seems we’re just as much a part of the problem. We’ve become too
Just a few short weeks ago, a 16-year-old contestant on a reality
sensitive about things.
show was disqualified when a video - recorded by his mother four years prior - surfaced in which the then 12-year-old singer
We are now standing up for Paris Hilton, saying how brave she
acted out a scene from a movie with racial undertones. Clearly,
is despite having made fun of her to no end in the past. We
he was too young to even understand the implications. Fast
now find Eminem’s lyricism controversial despite previously
forward to now where an actor is getting called out for having
showering him with praise for being edgy, which in turn made
participated in a pageant founded in the 1870s that may have
him a hip-hop icon.
ties to slave owners - as if they were a part of the plan when they entered the contest in the late 1990s.
Yes, the times have changed. The fact that these stories get put at the forefront as much, if not more, than real, devastating and life-
It seems like the media is trying to find any dirt on someone
threatening happenings, shows that times have most definitely
and give it to the public in just a couple of paragraphs, with no
changed. But I don’t think it is for the better.
discussion, interviews, or elaborate proof. And it works. have been canceled for heinous acts should be given a pass.
comfort and safety of their keyboards and touchscreens. But,
Rather, we need to choose which hill we intend to die on wisely.
52 | JULY 2021
• www.evansvillemediagroup.com
PHOTO: EMILY PELSTON
I’ll end with this takeaway: I am not advocating that folks that Shares galore, disgraceful comments, and shaming - all from the
