Cancel Culture is defined as a modern form of ostracism in which someone is thrust out of social or professional circles – either online on social media, in the real world, or both. Those who are subject to this ostracism are said to be “canceled.” This has become much more prominent as the social media platform “TikTok” has become much more popular as young people who weren’t in the spotlight before were thrusted into stardom and under the microscope of the public. However, cancel culture seems to blur the lines between crimes and past mistakes from years before their stardom. 

Take 19-year-old Zoe Laverne and 20-year-old Addison Rae for example. Zoe Laverne was under fire in late 2020 as fans became wary of her relationship with a 13-year-old fan. Laverne’s ex-boyfriends and ex-best friends had leaked dm’s saying her friendship with her fan was more of a pedophilic relationship rather than a friendship. Days after a video leaked of her kissing the young 13-year-old fan leaked and she imminently got a lot of backlash calling her a pedophile and a child groomer. Zoe went live and responded to these allegations “I didn’t groom Connor, I wouldn’t do that. He’s a kid and I’m aware of that. It just happened, We both were in a dark place when we first became friends and we both just ended up catching feelings for each other. And friends do that, they catch feelings for each other. That’s not a bad thing. Yes, the age is a bad thing. Yes, it’s wrong. Yes, it’s not good. We both realized that and we stopped.” The hate still continued obviously but people started to make excuses for her slowly people seemed to forget the horrible actions that only happened months ago.  

In the case of then 19-year-old Addison Rae her scandal started in the Summer of 2020 in the midst of the Black Lives Matter Movement. During the summer Addison was very outspoken in her support of the BLM movement on all her platforms, even going to a protest with fellow tiktokers Abby Rao, Bryce Hall, Jaden Hossler, Blake Gray, and Mads Lewis. After she was outspoken about the matter, Twitter users scolded back 4 years and found a liked tweet from when she was 15 of a video of a woman saying Black Lives Matter was a cult and did more harm than good. It seemed that the entire internet was against her and made up the nickname of “Addison Raesict” and publicly shamed her. During this time there were huge hate groups and rude comments. Addison later posted an apology that stated;

“I owe all of you an apology.

Four years ago, I reposted a video that included a woman sharing her thoughts on Black Lives Matter and All Lives Matter that I should not have. Because of my privilege, I didn’t understand and wasn’t educated enough on the social injustices facing the Black community. All lives CANNOT matter until Black lives do. The Black community was and continues to be oppressed and damaged by systemic racism.

I see my mistakes and am committed to learning from them. I will never stop growing, learning, and fighting for those whose voices rightfully need to be amplified, and will forever believe that Black Lives Matter. If you haven’t done so already, please join me in supporting and learning more about the global Black Lives Matter movement.

I am truly sorry and I am committed to using the platform you all have given me to work on becoming a better ally. I love you all endlessly.

Addison Rae.”

The reaction to Zoe and Addison seem too similar for the severity of the two situations which is one of the problems with cancel culture. The debate continues with people on both sides of cancel culture. Those who love it and those who hate it and think it needs to be reformed. What side are you on?