The internet has become more ruthless, “canceling” celebrities they deem morally wrong. Words and images become attached to a person, spreading throughout the internet, branding them for life. Cancel culture builds with every person judging passing figures on their screen, sharing their ideas with a quick reaction video or comment with thousands of likes. But does canceling someone really work? Or does the internet agree to disagree?
According to the Pew Research Center “cancel culture is a movement to remove celebrity status or esteem from a person, place, or thing based on offensive behavior or transgression.” A celebrity is canceled when their actions do not align with the internet’s approval. After the action is shared the internet debates, usually choosing to side against the celebrity. The internet will often also bring up things from the celebrities past to make their argument stronger, even though they are essentially debating with their keyboard.
One of the biggest names in country music today is Morgan Wallen. Since his appearance on “The Voice” in 2014 he has established himself within the country music industry making a record-breaking 2023 album “One Thing at a Time.” Wallen was also recently named entertainer of the year at the 2024 CMA Awards. But his success has not come without setbacks and hardship.
Wallen has faced public ridicule multiple times over the last decade having been “canceled” several times.
In October 2020, Wallen faced public backlash for allegedly violating Covid-19 protocols after being spotted partying without a mask in multiple TikTok videos, NBC News reported at the time. This was the first time he was canceled. Wallen would eventually grow to be one of the biggest names in country music today. The cancellation did not last.
Wallen was scheduled to appear as a musical guest on “Saturday Night Live,” but after the videos surfaced, he was pulled from the lineup.
Although he was not positive for Covid-19 he told NBC News “I respect the show’s decision, because I know that I put them in jeopardy, and I take ownership for this.”
Wallen was later rebooked as the “SNL” musical guest that December according to the Today Show.
This cancellation did not stop Wallen as he was back in the studio and released his third album “Dangerous” in early January of 2021.
Soon after in February, Wallen is canceled for a second time after video of him using a racial slur spreads throughout the internet. “Soon after the video surfaced, Wallen was suspended from his recording label, Big Loud Records” says the Today Show.
Big Loud Records made the suspension public posting a statement on X. The label wrote “Republic Records fully supports Big Loud’s decision and agrees such behavior will not be tolerated.”
Despite an apology released in an interview with NBC News, Wallen canceled his summer tour dates in April of 2021. He was also banned from multiple awards shows. It seemed this would be the end of Wallen’s career and that he would be canceled indefinitely.
However, his album “Dangerous” released a month before this scandal still proved to be a success. It was the best-selling album for all genres for the first part of 2021 as well as topping the Billboard 200 for 10 consecutive weeks upon its release according to Country Now.
And by May of 2022 Wallen returned to award shows, performing at the Billboard Music Awards.
About a year later in March of 2023 Wallen released his fourth album “One Thing at a Time.” This album proved to be wildly popular, debuting at number one on the US Billboard 200 and spending its first 12 weeks at number one. The album was the most-streamed album of 2023.
Most recently, Wallen appeared on “SNL” in March 2025. He faced controversy once again after walking off set early. Videos of him leaving spread across the internet and once again, the internet debated its overall stance on Wallen. One video posted on TikTok by Wuhrly had a comment section with debating fans. The caption of the post reads “Morgan Wallen receives backlash for walking off the SNL stage during the ending credits.” The top comment says “had a clan meeting to get to” with 85.7 thousand likes. However, the next comment reads “Stormed off? Said proper goodbye to co-host and slowly walked out.” with 61.5 thousand likes. And finally the comment under that reads “Dudes a racist, why did they even invite him?” with 38.5 thousand likes. Clearly, the internet has not forgiven him for using a racial slur but also clearly the internet has. The power is in the people’s hands. And many people are deciding to give Wallen love.
His latest album “I’m The Problem” is set to release on May 16th of 2025. According to Forbes every single has found a home on Billboard’s country ranking. “Just in Case” a single that will appear on the album debuted at No. 1 but dropped to No. 2 after the release of “I’m the Problem” another single that will appear on the album. Fans are already showing Wallen love for this album and anticipating its release.
So does cancel culture really work? In Wallen’s case the answer is simple, no. After getting “canceled” several times, facing constant backlash from the public, and trending on social media for reasons no one would be proud of, his career is still a big success.