Cancel culture ain’t got sh*t on me! Denzel Washington has become the latest mainstream actor to rail against cancel culture, going from low to high in an interview where he gave his exact thoughts on it.
Denzel Washington and Spike Lee recently sat down with Complex as part of the publicity tour for their latest collaboration, Highest 2 Lowest. It was here that he was asked if he was concerned about it. “What does that mean? Who cares? What made public support so important to begin with? I don’t care who’s following who. You can’t lead and follow at the same time, and you can’t follow and lead at the same time. I don’t follow anybody…You can’t be canceled if you haven’t signed up. Don’t sign up….My chest is getting tight talking about it. I could care less.” Lee, for his part, said, “Don’t even get me started.”
Considering those who have been most vocal on cancel culture tend to be against the concept, it’s no surprise that Washington is of a similar take. And the same goes for Spike Lee, who defended fellow (well, former) New York filmmaker Woody Allen against his cancellation a number of years ago, saying you can’t just go around erasing the legacies of artists. While Lee did go on to clarify his words that he does not in any way support sexual harassment and violence, he does seem to continue to take the stance that it’s a slippery slope.
Here is the synopsis for Washington and Lee’s latest, Highest 2 Lowest: “When a titan music mogul, widely known as having the “best ears in the business”, is targeted with a ransom plot, he is jammed up in a life-or-death moral dilemma. Brothers Denzel Washington and Spike Lee reunite for the 5th in their long working relationship for a reinterpretation of the great filmmaker Akira Kurosawa’s crime thriller High and Low, now played out on the mean streets of modern day New York City.” The movie is already in theaters, with a release on Apple TV+ coming on September 5th.
What do you think of Denzel Washington’s comments on cancel culture?
The comment section exists to allow readers to discuss the article constructively and respectfully, focused on the topic at hand.
What’s Not Allowed