Ilya Shapiro – Former Executive Director of the Center for the Constitution, Georgetown University Law Center and Senior Fellow and Director of Constitutional Studies, The Manhattan Institute posted late night tweets perceived by many to be racist. He recognized the mistake immediately and sought to correct it by deleting the offensive tweet and offering a succinct apology explaining his error, but the damage to his reputation was already done.
Michelle McFarland - President, National Bridal Retailers Association and Owner of The Wedding Shoppe was the victim of a cancel culture assault, due to an incorrect assumption about the ownership of her shop. Cancel vultures attacked her business’s online platforms assuming The Wedding Shop was owned by Monica Palmer of the Wayne Country Board of Canvassers, who was under fire at the time for racist comments.
Lisa Alexander - Founder, LAFACE - Lisa Alexander’s experience provides a textbook example of cancel culture. All six of the CANDEM elements that define cancel culture were abundantly present in this instance. Alexander issued an apology in the aftermath of the attacks, but it had no impact in terms of satisfying the cancel vultures or changing the outcome for her business and brand. Widespread media coverage of her encounter with a neighbor dramatically accelerated the process of being canceled for Lisa Alexander. Alexander did not engage with the press at the time of the incident, failing to correct false information, and being completely overwhelmed with a barrage of negative media coverage. Today, Alexander is going public with her story, in the hopes of relaunching her business, moving on from this difficult experience, and speaking out against cancel culture.
