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Louis C.K. was trending on Twitter because his Madison Square Garden concert was sold out, which some on the left are interpreting to mean that cancel culture is not real, or that it does not hurt people's careers. (link: https://archive.is/ryKrI )
What does it mean to be sufficiently canceled? I think Louis C.K. qualifies as having been sufficiently cancelled. If you look at his Wikipedia page, his sexual misconduct scandal, in 2017, killed off his TV and movie career. His filmography abruptly ends in 2017. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_C.K._filmography
Sure he's still able to sell out, but this reflects individual preferences for his comedy, not the approval of the media establishment, in which he is still damaged goods. Comedians are sorta like contractors in the sense that they have to hustle, not depend on a platform or the backing of a major media establishment. I think this is is what gives comedians an advantage over actors in regard to cancellation, because stand-up comedy can be inexpensively distributed at scale, such as digitally online, without needing the backing of an entire studio or publishing house.
Claims that "cancel culture doesn't exist because this particular, highly , highly talented and famous person escaped our wrath" are, imo, just obfuscation.
Akin to saying "homophobia doesn't exist cause this one rich gay Hollywood Jew in the 60s got away with it"; it changes absolutely nothing about the claim being made about society.
This is a common line of argument with JK Rowling and the bad faith is most evident there: trying and failing is not the same as not trying or being globally ineffective. They absolutely would have cancelled her if they could; she's simply a once-in-a-generation celebrity.
Ding ding ding.
People with talent have value that, from a purely economic point of view, is going to make it much easier for them to recover their position because, quite simply, a lot of people can make money off of them returning to action.
Another counter-example is Kanye West, who is a world-famous artist with massive following who currently cannot post to any social media site under his own identity. He's STILL got a decent chance of returning to former glory.
Meanwhile, a more average citizen who is inherently more replaceable is going to become potentially radioactive for a long time and this makes their position much more vulnerable.
The whole point of opposing cancel culture, to my view, is to protect persons who don't have the means to survive an attempt at mob justice, since mobs generally don't discriminate based on the wealth or prestige of their target.
One thing I noted when I was very young, probably 2nd or 3rd grade, that has stuck with me is the observation that artists don't have to be all that popular to be successful. This seems counterintuitive because they make money by being "popular". My mom was a big Pearl Jam fan, and I noted that their best-selling album still only sold like 9 million copies. That meant something like 3% of people in America bought an album. Not really all that popular! Even fewer people go to concerts. At 21k seats sold, Louis C.K. has pulled in... 0.25% of New York City's populace.
Albums have a high barrier; anyone who spends money is one of the more passionate fans (this gets worse the easier it is to acquire things without paying). Now consider how many people listened on the radio (or Youtube nowadays).
Of course! But the point really was that in music you make most of your money from those passionate fans. Like if you have 1 million zealots and no one else has heard of you (like that boogaloo band whos fans dress up) or really knows your music, thats still a banging career.
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