Cancel culture has gone into overdrive in 2020. After the death of George Floyd, the rate of public outcries and boycotts has increased dramatically. This has led to a number of resignations, firings, and apologies from individuals and businesses alike. The below list captures just a fraction of these incidents. If you are a reasonable person, you will find many instances on this list infuriating. This is because the “crimes” committed is simply acting or speaking (knowingly or not) against the far-left ideology.
As new incidents come to light, this list will be updated.
- May 31, 2020: Grant Napear was a play-by-play announcer for KHTK station until he tweeted out “All Lives Matter… Every Single One!” Bonneville International Corporation (the KHTK station owner) posted a statement announcing his immediate removal in response to a large public backlash. [Read More About This Incident]
- June: Gordon Klein, Lecturer in Accounting at UCLA, was put on leave for refusing to give special treatment for minority students after George Floyd’s murder. Preet Bains, a UCLA senior, started a Change petition which has so far garnered over 21,000 signatures. the UCLA Academic Senate Committee on Academic Freedom defended Prof. Klein’s actions.[Read More About This Incident]
Read more about Gordon Klein’s case
- June 4(ish), 2020: Stockwell Day, a former cabinet member of Stephen Harper in the Canadian government, apologized for saying “Canadians are not racist. And our system… is not systematically racist.” Later, Day would apologize saying his comments were “insensitive and hurtful” and that he was committed to “unending efforts to fight racism.” [Read More About This Incident]
- June 5: Aleksandar Katai, midfielder for the LA Galaxy, was fired after his wife referred to BLM protestors as “disgusting cattle” and threatened to kill them on social media. Katai did apologize shortly after on IG. [Read More About This Incident]
- June 6: Stan Wischnowski, former editor for the Philadelphia Inquirer, gave his resignation after backlash for publishing Inga Saffron’s “Buildings Matter, Too” article. Around forty staffers took sick leave to protest Wischnoski’s decision to publish this controversial headline. [Read More About This Incident]
- June 6: JK Rowling has faced pressure for her critical satire of the phrase “people who menstruate.” Five employees of Hachette UK expressed concerns about working with Rowling on her latest book The Ichabog but Hachette took up her defense stating their policies have always sought to separate the personal lives of authors and their public works. Rowling has since written an essay defending her position. [Read More About This Incident]
- June 7: James Bennet, op ed at NYT, resigned after publishing an opinion piece by Senator Tom Cotton (R-KY). Cotton called for the use of federal troops to quell riots around the country. AG Sulzberger, the Publisher, points to a breakdown in internal procedures and a number of staffers reported that they feared for their safety. [Read More About This Incident]
- June 7: Fr. Moloney, former Catholic chaplain at MIT, agreed to resign after speaking disfavorably about George Floyd’s character and the accusations of racist policing. Suzy Nelson, Dean of Student Life, characterizes Fr. Moloney’s public email was “disparaging” and that the message “failed to acknowledge the dignity of each human being.” Fr. Moloney voiced regret over the broad misunderstanding of his word.
- June 8: Christene Barberich, former editor and co-founder of Refinery29, chose to resign after current and previous employees made public their complaints of a discriminatory and toxic work environment.
- June 8: Adam Rapoport, editor-in-chief of Bon Appetit, resigned after a 2004 photo surfaced of him dressed in a Puerto Rican caricature. Simone Shubuck, his wife, posted the photo in 2013 calling him “Papi” in the caption. He later posts a response that he needs to reflect on his humanity.
- June 8: David Collum, Director of Undergrad studies at Cornell Univerisity’s Chemistry Dept., left his position after significant backlash for tweets against Martin Gugino, the 75 year old man pushed by New Buffalo law enforcement. The energy behind Collum’s departure came from a retweet by actor Kumail Nanjiani.
- June 8: Harald Uhlig, Professor of Economics at University of Chicago, received backlash and calls for his firing for his tweet critical of BLM’s adoption of #defundthepolice.
- June 9: Dee Nguyen, reality TV personality on MTV’s The Challenge, was fired after posting controversial twitter comments. She later apologized.
- June 9: Greg Glassman, CEO of CrossFit, announced his resignation and later the sale of CrossFit (June 24) after making controversial comments about George Floyd’s murder during a zoom meeting.
- June 9: Max Boyens, Brett Caprioni, Stassi Schroeder and Kristen Doute, reality tv stars in Bravo’s Vanderpump Rules, were fired after accusations of racism and discrimination. Caprioni and Boyens were already under suspicion for alleged racist comments in January. Schroeder and Doute are accused of making a false police call on a black cast member.
- June 11: Country music group Lady Antebellum changed its name to “Lady A” after they were made aware of the association of “antebellum” with the pre-Civil War South. A Black Blues singer known as “Lady A” for twenty years expressed anger after Lady Antebellum took her name without permission.
- June 11: Audrey Gelman, CEO of The Wing, resigned after employees walked off the job digitally in support of Black and Brown workers. Workers assert that the public promotion of “intersectional feminism” did not occur internally. A representative of The Wing pledged to rethink how they do business under new leadership.
- June 11: The City of Birmingham Alabama revoked the rental leases of the Church of the Highlands due to the social media activity of its lead pastor Chris Hodges. So what was the crime? Ps. Hodge liked a couple of posts from Turning Point USA. Part of the free services offered through these rented facilities include free covid-19 testing for residents in Birmingham’s public housing. [Read More About This Incident]
- June 12: Tiffany Riley, former principal of Windsor School in Windsor, VT, was fired after a series of controversial social media postings against the tactics of BLM. Her comments stirred up community outrage who interpreted her words as insensitive and racist. [Read More About This Incident]
- June 13: Joyce Kenner, principal of Chicago’s Whitney Young High School, refused to leave her position after calls for her to step down for her condemnation of rioting in the city. She called for students to avoid participating in violent acts during George Floyd protests, but voiced support for students participating in peaceful demonstrations. Kenner was an active participant in the Civil Rights Movement as a worker for the Rainbow PUSH Coalition. [Read More About This Incident]
- June 15: Emmanuel Cafferty, former employee of San Diego G&E, was fired after being accused of making a “white power” symbol outside the window of a company vehicle. The “OK” symbol has been used by white supremacists but is also a commonly used symbol in American society. [Read More About This Incident]
- June 17: Quaker Oats announced the retirement of the “Aunt Jemima” maple syrup logo by the end of 2020. This brand, used since 1889, has come under criticism for its association with Minstrel show stereotypes. The families who have benefited from their relatives’ participation in the brand are currently challenging this decision. [Read More About This Incident]
- June 17: Marvel apologized after posting a picture of a Captain America statue from a video game.
Read more about Marvel’s tweet
- June 17: Daniel Corson-Knowles, MD and Indiana University School of Medicine Assistant Professor of Clinical Medicine, apologized for triggering microaggressions for using the phrase “I can’t breath” in an exam question. The exam question reads: “A patient who missed dialysis suddenly becomes pale, diaphoretic, and screams, ‘I can’t breathe!’ You glance at the monitor and notice the following rhythm. You are unable to palpate a pulse and initiate immediate CPR. The most appropriate next step in therapy is…” [Read More About This Incident]
- June 17: The 11-Worth Cafe in Omaha, Neb. closed its doors for good after two days of protests outside of the establishment. The protests were in response to social media posts by the owner’s son as well as a menu item called the “Robert E Lee.” Out of fear for the safety of his employees and family, the owner decided to shut down. On two occasions, police came to their home due to threats against them.
- June 17: Mars Co. in response to Quaker Oats has promised to rebrand Uncle Ben’s rice. Criticism over this brand revolves around historical use of references such as “boy” or “uncle” in the Jim Crow South. [Read More About This Incident]
- June 18: The Washington Post published a 3,000 word article that effectively demonizes costume satire at their own Halloween party: From 2018. Lexie Gruber and Lyric Prince receive praise for publically rebuking a woman dressed in “blackface” with a Megan Kelly name tag. Robby Soave writes a detailed and scathing article summarizing the use of a major paper to attack regular people.
- June 18: the Southeastern Conference stated that future SEC championships would not be held in Mississippi unless the state flag changed. On June 28, the Mississippi legislature passed HB 1796 for the relinquishing, removal and redesign of the state flag. On November 2, Mississippians will vote on the redesigned Mississippi flag. [Read More About This Incident]
- June 19: YouTube removed a panel discussion hosted by the Heritage Foundation due to comments made by Walt Heyer, a former transgender-identifying woman and a contributor to The Federalist. Heyer stood by her remarks criticizing the promotion of hormone therapies by surgeons for children with gender dysphoria and the Heritage Foundation is fighting YouTube to have the forum discussion republished. [Read More About This Incident]
- June 19: Dreyer’s Ice Cream announced that they will be changing the name of their Eskimo Pie ice cream. [Read More About This Incident]
- June 20: Michael Korenberg, former chairman of the University of BC’s Board of Governors, resigned after students found him liking pro-Trump and anti-BLM/AntiFa Twitter posts. His letter of apology expressed regret over the harm caused and a surprise that others could look at his Twitter account.
- June 24: Rioters attacked Senator Tim Carpenter (D-WI) after they caught him filming the destruction of an abolitionist monument. [Read More About This Incident]
- June 24: Patrick Harrington, owner of Kindness Yoga, closed down nine studios after receiving complaints from a number of Black and transgender Yoga instructors. These instructors accused Harrington of “performative activism” and tokenism. [Read More About This Incident]
- June 25: The Country music group The Dixie Chicks decided to remove “Dixie” from their band name and showed appreciation for a New Zealand band called The Chicks for allowing them to share their name. [Read More About This Incident]
- June 25: The Houston Association of Realtors will replace “master” bedroom with “primary” bedroom. [Read More About This Incident]
- July 6: Carlin Romano, Professor at the University of Pennsylvania and a member of the National Books Critics Circle Board, is facing pressures to resign after emailing his concerns concerning the wording of a statement in support of BLM. [Read More About This Incident]
- July 12: Gary Garrels, top curator at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, resigned after outrage from his colleagues over an IG post stating: “Don’t worry, we will definitely still continue to collect white artists.” [Read More About This Incident]
- July 18: Trader Joe’s announced its renaming and repackaging of some of its labels after it received a petition from 1,400 people asking for the company to rename their Trader Jose product. Trader Joe’s thereafter clarified that it did not (and will not) change the name to acquiese the online petition and will still keep the Trader Jose product name.
- July 21: Barbara Fedida, former VP of ABC News, was fired after being placed on administrative leave after the network investigated allegations of racist and unprofessional conduct. [Read More About This Incident]
- July 23: The Sierra Club apologized for white supremacist comments made by its founder John Muir. [Read More About This Incident]
- July 27: Stuart Hurlbert, San Diego State University Professor Emeritus of Biology, faces a faculty petition to remove his emeritus status. Hurlbert openly supports greater restrictions for immigration and rejects BLM. [Read More About This Incident]
- August 7: Cliff Mass, Professor of Atmospheric Science at Washington University, was let go from his part time job as a weatherman on KNKX (NPR affiliate) after making critical comments on his blog about the riots in Seattle.
- September 6: Professor Greg Patton, an award-winning Communications Professor at USC, has been placed on leave after using a Chinese expression that sounds like the N-word. Students complained a decline in mental health due to Patton’s use of the demonstrative “nèi ge” (that).
November 27: Colin Wright highlights a renewed effort of woke University of Chicago students to cancel the career of Professor Dorian Abbot. Prof. Abbot is an Associate Professor in the Department of Geophysical Sciences. Fortunately, people are growing impatient with the triggered mob. A counter petition, to protect Prof. Abbot’s right to free speech, currently has over 9000 signatures.
