The Playbook of Cancellation

It was the similarity in the various methodologies of the ‘cancellers’ that made me realise that there is a pattern of attack going on, one with key hallmarks that are more than coincidently similar.

In 2023 I set up an organisation, Freedom in the Arts, with Denise Fahmy designed to support artists going through any kind of ‘cancellation’ due to their work or their personal beliefs. In doing so I have now worked with over 30 artists, some were interviewed about their past experiences, and some come to FITA to ask for support and help.

What I have learnt has shocked me, even though many of the experiences described also happened to me. It was this similarity in the various methodologies of the ‘cancellers’ that made me realise that there is a pattern of attack going on, one with key hallmarks that are more than coincidently similar.  

I want to lay out the cancellation playbook in detail here.

Fear and Loathing

As one of the first people I interviewed, before setting up FITA told me, when I asked what the atmosphere was like in the arts sector he worked in; “The culture in the arts is one of intense of fear and loathing”. For those working in the arts, it is a place of deep fear, worry, anxiety and intimidation, with many afraid to speak out, if at all, and many keeping their heads down. Some people spoke of how a culture of low budgets, swingeing cuts and lack of funding had made the arts considerably more difficult, more hostile and a more competitive culture over the years since pre-2014, and this had created an atmosphere ripe for the cancellation culture to spread. A woman felt that she had started to get gently cancelled from 2015 onwards, and it had only grown, she described how she had been ostracised, ignored, belittled, vilified and smeared. Several interviewees talked about the effect on their health, with one woman saying she feared this climate could well take 5 years of her life.

There seems to be a set of beliefs that must not be challenged. I have made a list, which although long, is probably not fully comprehensive. The biggest sacred beliefs which can not be challenged on any account are the big six (and in order of appearance); Brexit, Climate Change, Vaccines/ Lockdown, Critical Race Theory/ Black Lives Matter, Trans Rights/ Trans Women are Women and most recently the Israel/ Palestine conflict. I’m sure I don’t next explain to you which side you must be on, but there is not even a worry that trans rights may be incompatible with Palestine support (see ‘Queers for Palestine’) and none can be challenged or even questioned with the questioner becoming a pariah in arts society.