Celebrity gossip: Who we are cancelling for being racist now?
As protests around the world continue to call for racial justice & fair treatment, the entertainment industry has taken action to address these concerns. A string of shows and celebrities have been canned as measures are being taken to support public outcry. Even celebrity gossip can’t escape the sweeping volatility of 2020.
The reasons for this purge have ranged from not vocally supporting Black Lives Matter, to actually being racist. Whether for offensive actions or simply being an awful human being, here’s our list of celebrities that might have to find a new day job.
Bon voyage, Adam Rapoport
Bon Appétit editor-in-chief Adam Rapoport has resigned after photos of him and his wife surfaced of them dressed as Puerto Ricans for Halloween. After ten years in the role, Adam Rapoport announced he’s stepping down to “reflect on the work that I need to do as a human being and allow Bon Appétit to get to a better place.”
There was no option for Adam Rapoport to reflect on being a better human being while staying in his role at Bon Appétit, unlike our next bit of celebrity gossip on the list.
Jimmy Fallon has stopped laughing for one whole minute
It might surprise you to find everyone’s favorite cover boy on this list, but Jimmy Fallon’s old performance on Saturday Night Live as Chris Rock brought down a hailstorm of wrist-slapping and celebrity gossip in recent weeks.
Fallon has apologized for the 2000 footage and has said that he needs to be educated on the subject. He spoke to several experts on his show, including NAACP President & CEO Derrick Johnson.
Unlike others on this list, Jimmy Fallon has been fortunate enough to keep his position on The Tonight Show. We hope there’s a caveat somewhere in his new contract that bans that obnoxious laugh too, but we’ll keep you updated.
Peter who?
Bravo has fired one of the stars from Below Deck Mediterranean. Peter Hunziker has been canned from circulating on Instagram a racist image showing a naked black woman in shackles. The truly upsetting Instagram story was brought to the network’s attention a few weeks ago and Peter was promptly fired. This isn’t even celebrity gossip; it’s just plain sad.
Time to put Alex Kompothercras in a siesta hold
MTV’s Siesta Key has cut ties with one of its reality show personalities, Alex Kompothercras. The move came about after old tweets surfaced of Alex using a racial epithet in response to an Instagram photo. Alex has also been criticized for shooting a shark, and with that douche-bro look we can understand this bit of celebrity gossip and the move by MTV to cut ties.
The attack of the Karen
Dance Moms coach Abby Lee Miller has also been pulled from her Lifetime show. During Dance Moms season 8, Abby made a number of bigoted comments to a contestant, icluding “I know you grw up in the HOOD with only a box of 8 crayons, but I grw up in the Country Clu with a box of 64 – don’t be stupid”. A Lifetime spokeswoman has stated that they don’t have plans to air the show anymore.
You’re not loud enough!
Reality TV show The Challenge has cut ties with its contestant Dee Nguyen after a supposedly offensive comment regarding the BLM movement. An Instagram post had called out Dee Nguyen for not being more vocal in support of BLM. Dee responded with “People die every f-ing day. [You] don’t know me or what I do. I suggest [you] wake the f-k up and get off social media.”
Wake up and get off social media
This last case brings up something important to recognize while we try to re-define proper race relationships in our society. Dee Nguyen is from a family that fled Vietnam for a better life. They fled police brutality, corruption, war, and poverty. Though she grew up in Australia, her experiences as a 1st generation immigrant have likely shaped her views on the world and what it means to experience intolerance.
This doesn’t mean Dee Nguyen is right, or that we defend her actions, but as protests against social injustice and police brutality continue around the world it’s important to recognize that people have different experiences of those very things. Outside of the black and white framing of the situation in America there are cases of injustice and oppression happening to peoples you have never heard of or ever will.
It is with that in mind that we hope people develop a true appreciation for the vast number of groups that face oppression and not let themselves get caught up in a binary mentality. To blindly draw a line between “us” and “them” only serves to fracture people into conveniently-controllable pockets.
This is not to take away from BLM, but only to solidify the importance of unity across all races against oppression. We stand with the decisions to reprimand those who exhibit racist ideas and actions, and hope that we can return to the days of celebrity gossip where we find out who’s dating a porn star.
