The Cancel Culture Curse: From Rage to Redemption in a World Gone Mad

By Bruce Hennes, Hennes Communications

Cancel culture is a movement aimed at ostracizing, discrediting and “deplatforming” individuals and companies for behavior or transgressions deemed offensive.  According to Wikipedia, cancel culture is a controversial topic that exacerbates political polarization, with arguments from two opposing sides.  One side argues that it gives a voice to marginalized communities while the other argues that it prevents free speech and open debate.  Social media plays a significant role in contributing to the rise of cancel culture.  The spiral of silence theory may also contribute to people being hesitant to voice their minority views on social media.  Critics argue that cancel culture arises from “safetyism,” a moral culture in which people are unwilling to make tradeoffs demanded by practical or moral concerns.  Cancel culture has been described as a collective of typically marginalized voices calling out and censuring a powerful figure.

In their new book “The Cancel Culture Curse: From Rage to Redemption in a World Gone Mad,” co-authors Evan Nierman and Mark Sachs, crisis management experts at Red Banyan, examine the debate surrounding cancel culture. The authors argue that cancel culture is not only an affront to democracy but also a threat to regular citizens. The book provides a functional definition of cancel culture and identifies six characteristics that distinguish it from instances of warranted outrage.

Through case studies and interviews with well-known victims of cancel culture, the authors highlight how cancel culture can impact individuals from all walks of life, including those who do not have the financial means or social position to weather the damage of a cancel culture attack. The authors also explore how cancel culture is used as a weapon by both sides of the political aisle and provide tips for what to do when facing cancelation.

One way to prepare for or mitigate cancel culture is by including that possibility when conducting a vulnerability audit that anticipates a wide range of potential scenarios.  For more information about this, please call us at 216-321-7774 or contact us at info@crisiscommunications.com.