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Dr Seuss to Chrissy Teigen: 8 stars who were cancelled in 2021

Sexual allegations, offensive tweets and alleged racism have landed some of the world's biggest stars in hot water this year

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AP file

By Web Desk

Published: Thu 30 Dec 2021, 7:58 PM

The concept of 'cancel culture' itself is on the verge of being cancelled, but that hasn't stopped the Internet from holding certain celebrity figures accountable in 2021.

Sexual allegations, offensive tweets and alleged racism have landed some of the world's biggest stars in hot water this year.

Cancel culture refers to the sociocultural phenomenon of promoting a widespread verbal attack on people, brands, shows or movies that some perceive as offensive or problematic.

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Here are just a few stars who were on the receiving end of the Internet's wrath in 2021.

Chris Noth

Chris Noth, the 67-year-old actor, primarily known for his portrayal of Mr Big in the popular romantic TV series Sex and the City, has faced severe backlash on social media, leading to his cancellation.

Noth has denied all allegations. However, talent agency A3 Artists Agency soon dropped him as a client, and Peloton took down one of their advertisements featuring him. He was also dropped from CBS' drama The Equalizer this month.

Dr Seuss

Although the classic children's author Dr Seuss died in 1991, six of his books were pulled in March 2021 for their alleged racist depictions of people from certain nationalities.

'If I Ran The Zoo', 'And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street', 'McElligot’s Pool', 'On Beyond Zebra!', 'Scrambled Eggs Super!' and 'The Cat’s Quizzer' were the six books that were removed from publication for portraying people in ways that were "hurtful and wrong", the publishing company told The New York Post.

“We believed that it was time to take action. We listened and took feedback from our audiences including teachers, academics and specialists in the field, too, as part of the review process."

This also led to the omission of his name in US President Joe Biden's annual presidential proclamation on the occasion of 'Read Across America Day'.

However, according to a recent report from Business Insider, librarians from the New York Public Library and other US institutions have decided to keep the [already existing] discontinued books on the shelves.

Marilyn Manson

Marilyn Manson, who had been facing serious allegations of abuse and sexual violence, fell into deeper trouble, when Evan Rachel Wood, another of his exes who had testified in court for the same, publicly accused him for the first time.

"The name of my abuser is Brian Warner, also known to the world as Marilyn Manson," the Westworld actress claimed in an Instagram post.

The Internet community was quick to support Wood and Manson was soon dropped by his record label Loma Vista Recordings, talent agent and manager.

Dave Chappelle

Dave Chappelle's comedic career has been riddled with controversy. After his Netflix special The Closer came out, people deemed some of his jokes transphobic and were enraged at his hypocrisy.

“I am not bending to anyone’s demands...And if you want to meet with me, I am more than willing to, but I have some conditions…First of all, you cannot come if you have not watched my special from beginning to end. You must come to a place of my choosing at a time of my choosing, and thirdly, you must admit that Hannah Gadsby is not funny," he said.

Early reviews of the show were critical, with many rights and advocacy groups condemning Chappelle's comments. Several Netflix employees also protested. Most notably, Dear White People showrunner Jaclyn Moore announced that she would no longer work with the company.

Andrew Cuomo & Chris Cuomo

Andrew Cuomo, the former governor of New York City, had constantly battled sexual misconduct claims from seven women. But it was a 165-page independent probe report by the New York State Attorney General Letitia James that truly took the ex-governor head on. The report detailed allegations by the 11 women who said they were sexually harassed by him.

Although he denied the entire report, he faced severe backlash, both online and offline, forcing the 64-year-old to resign.

“I think that given the circumstances, the best way I can help now is if I step aside...This is one of the most challenging times for government in a generation...Government really needs to function today, government needs to perform. It is a matter of life and death. Wasting energy on distractions is the last thing [the] state government should be doing,” he said in his resignation announcement.

His brother Chris Cuomo, who was fired from CNN in December "for misleading the cable network about the extent of the role he played [in] trying to mitigate the sexual harassment accusations that took down his brother" (which also involved discussions on how to tarnish the reputations of some of the accusers), also faced a sexual misconduct allegation of his own, as per The New York Post.

Chrissy Teigen

Chrissy Teigen is a successful model, cookbook author and influencer, known for her humour, relatability and spontaneity. However, her social media following was quick to turn on her after several people accused her of cyberbullying.

Other celebrities who accused Teigen of cyberbullying were Lindsay Lohan, Farrah Abraham and Project Runway star Michael Costello.

As a result, she was reportedly pulled out of brand deals with both Bloomingdale's and Macy's, she stepped away from her brand Safely, and backed out of Netflix's popular comedy drama Never Have I Ever, according to a report by Fox News.

James Charles

James Charles is a high-profile beauty influencer on Instagram, TikTok and YouTube. But his dedicated following shrank in 2019 after one of his former mentors, Tati Westbrook, called him out on social media.

In early 2021, the influencer was accused by a 16-year-old TikTok user of sending him unsolicited photographs and pressuring him into inappropriate conversation on Snapchat, according to a report from The New York Times.

Despite posting multiple apologies on his social media platforms, Charles' following took a hit. Moreover, YouTube demonetised Charles' account temporarily in light of the allegations.

Web Desk

Published: Thu 30 Dec 2021, 7:58 PM

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