Jack Black Isn’t a Cancel Culture Victim

It’s hard to find a Joe Rogan article without a reference to the pandemic.

Story after story connects the Spotify superstar to spreading COVID-19 “misinformation,” ignoring how the corporate press does far worse (and he’s a comedian by trade).

Need four examples of press malfeasance on a grand scale?

  • Russian collusion 
  • Hunter Biden’s Laptop isn’t real
  • President Biden is mentally fit
  • COVID-19 vaccines prevent you from getting or spreading the virus

The Cancel Culture mob did all it could to crush Rogan’s podcast for bucking the Left’s pandemic narrative. It failed, but the taint on his brand remains. And journalists are all too eager to remind us.

Now, consider Jack Black.

The talented actor/singer essentially canceled himself last month after a cruel joke backfired. The Tenacious D star sang Happy Birthday to bandmate Kyle Gass during a live concert in Sydney, Australia. Gass wished the next Trump assassin wouldn’t miss before blowing out the birthday cake candles.

Black didn’t object. Instead, he said, “Thank you.”

The video clip went viral. Both Black and Gass apologized via social media (Gass later erased his post) and suspended the tour indefinitely.

Cancel Culture claims another scalp.

Not quite.

Mere weeks after the public relations snafu, journalists were writing fluff features about Black without referencing the tour suspension or the cruel comments.

Even Fox News got into the act.

Even more intriguing?

Black just worked the red carpet for his new film, “Borderlands,” opening Aug. 9. That’s not what canceled celebrities do. Roseanne Barr probably wouldn’t be allowed on a Hollywood red carpet today after her 2018 cancellation for a racially-charged Tweet.

For Black, it was business as usual this week. When pressed about the controversy by one journalist, he promised his band would be back in action soon.

Black was never canceled. He preemptively short-circuited his tour and suggested he was taking a significant creative break.

We can look at this moment in two distinct ways.

Cancel Culture is fading. Comedians have more wiggle room to share the jokes that cross their minds in 2024. Consider the anything-goes spirit behind “The Roast of Tom Brady” on Netflix. Or how that streaming platform now regularly works with rebel comedians like Tim Dillon, Shane Gillis and Rogan.

Or, wishing death on President Donald Trump is hardly a cancel-worthy act. In fact, it could have enhanced his celebrity street cred.

After all, Green Day’s Billie Joe Armstrong held up a Trump mask like a decapitated head during a recent concert and faced zero professional blowback.

All Black had to do was wait a few days and the PR storm would have passed. He might have made things worse by canceling himself.

Just know that no one else in Hollywood, or elsewhere, has canceled him. Nor will they.

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