How to get Away with Canceled

In the age of cancel culture many celebrities and influencers have become hyper PR trained and focused on making sure everything they do or say is politically correct. We have seen those who have destroyed their successful careers with their bad PR. For example, the Mikayla Nogueira mascara controversy in 2023. We have seen the crash and burn of rising stars and those who have well established careers. 

All because the jury of society have decided that they are guilty and what  they have done is punishable by the death penalty to their carer. But what's interesting is that the law doesn't apply to all. There have been celebrities and influencers that have done terrible things but got away with it like James Charles and his scandal of inappropriate behavior. 

While others are trying to revive their career where it once was before everything happened  like Tati Westbrook making a video that was interpreted as “petty and ridiculous” by her fan base. Both sides had some aspects of doing something wrong but one is arguably worse than the other but the decision on who was the better or two evils all came down to their PR apology video. 

Charles' apology video was a perfectly orchestrated PR clean up where he brought receipts of said event and made it seem like this whole issue was based on  him promoting a computer company to Westbrook company.

This video shifted everyone’s attention away from the discussion about Charles' questionable behavior because Charles added even more controversy to the situation by bringing Jeffrey Star and Shane Dawson who were hugely popular at the time into the drama.

Everyone completely moved on from what Westbrook said until it was resurfaced that Charles was inappropriate with minors then everyone suddenly remembers what Westbrook said back then but at that point her career is no longer a thing. Where Westbrook went wrong in her video is she back tracked from what she said in her original statement. She seemed more focused on winning the case than on presenting solid, concrete evidence in court.

We’ve seen this happen with a lot of celebrities and influencers where one person gets canceled while another doesn’t and much of it comes down to PR, how they choose to apologize, or whether they step away from the spotlight entirely. Kanye West is an example of this; he disappeared from the public eye for a while, long enough for people to somewhat move on or forget about the situation. He also came at a perfect time where everyone was getting cancelled so society as a whole was getting “cancel fatigue” and stopped caring. 

Also many say if you're going to be cancelled make good “content music or food” and you will be forgiven. Because as much as people say they have morals most of the time the morals can be pushed aside for something they like. 

Bio: Izabella Aguirre is a senior at CSUN who graduated in the spring with a major in journalism with an emphasis in public relations. Aguirre hopes to work in fashion PR.