CANCEL CULTURE IN COMEDY

I recently received a message from an "anonymous source" who said a comedian I worked with was problematic with women and that I should not work with the person. When I asked for details, they really did not have any. I asked the person if he had first hand knowledge of the problems, whatever they were and he said he did not. I asked around as well to see if anyone knew anything about this comedian and everyone had vague understandings ranging from extreme non-consensual contact to issues while in a consensual relationship.

As a trained lawyer, I am a big proponent of due process and having any accused given the opportunity to response to any allegations made. In some cases, that is difficult to do. This is especially true for victims in cases of rape, where women were villainized in the court systems and often blamed for unwanted contact. On the other hand, a lot of times in any community, there is a tendency to "pile on" on a person when he or she is being accused of wrong doing.

As a lawyer, I have seen this play out countless times. Last year, I had a similar situation where a comedian tried to cancel me because of my ties to a "cancelled" comedian. I do think that it is great we have evolved as a society to collectively hold individuals who engage in bad behaviors accountable for their actions, especially after the "me too" movement. At the same time, we have to be careful not to rush to judgement and engage in critical thinking on our own and ask questions when someone tells us not to associate with someone else.

And if someone did something wrong 20 years ago and is remorseful and learned from their actions, maybe they have done their time. I don't know the answers. I feel like the justice system is a good place to start. I believe in this particular situation, based on my own legal research, the anonymous tipper did not have his information correct and was simply trying to "pile on" a comedian who had experienced some success that perhaps he did not. #standup #comedy #cancelculture #bettercallpaul