The Obi-Wan factor: 5 celebs whose cancellation made them stronger



A classic “Star Wars” line speaks volumes about today’s culture. Two, actually.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this,” Han Solo warned in “Star Wars,” a sentiment that applies to virtually every part of America in 2024.

Wallen’s fans recognized both his contrite nature and the two-tier approach to his 'crime.' A Biden family member? Move along, nothing to see here. A beloved country star? Get ‘em!

The other? “If you strike me down, I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine,” Alec Guinness’ Obi-Wan Kenobi told Darth Vader moments before the villain did just that.

And, spoiler alert, Vader regretted it.

The modern left has tried to cancel several prominent personalities in recent years. Yet, one by one, they not only survived but came back stronger than ever.

In no particular order.

Bari Weiss

The New York Times scribe famously fled the paper in 2020 via a scathing open letter. The left-leaning journalist had had enough of the Old Gray Lady’s extreme bias. The newspaper, in turn, refused to defend her against fellow employees. They called Weiss a Nazi, a racist, and more.

The paper likely figured Weiss would wish she had clammed up and took the abuse.

Hardly.

Weiss picked herself up and joined the Substack revolution. Her newsletter quickly became one of the platform’s most popular feeds. And she wasn’t done.

Weiss went on to create The Free Press, a news outlet dedicated to news, not narrative. The platform became so successful, the New York Times ran a snippy profile on Weiss and her new creation earlier this month.

The newspaper that couldn’t defend her against gross accusations now sees her as more than a rival. Her Free Press is a threat to its news monopoly.

Joe Rogan

The Spotify superstar already stood atop the podcasting world in 2021. And then the usual suspects — as well as a posse of aging rock rebels — allied to bring him down.

Rogan took an adversarial tone to the left’s pandemic response. "Wait," he said. "Why can’t we talk to vaccine critics like Dr. Robert Malone? Should young, healthy people take an experimental vaccine? And if Rogan’s doctors said to take ivermectin as part of a 'kitchen sink' approach to battling COVID-19, why not?"

Rogan didn’t get every pandemic-related item right. Neither did any corporate media outlet, and Rogan never claimed to be a news source.

But by questioning The Narrative(TM) he drew the ire of Neil Young and, by extension, the left. Young yanked his music from Spotify, demanding the company release Rogan. Fellow AARP icons Joni Mitchell, Graham Nash, and David Crosby followed suit.

The left, smelling blood in the water, unearthed old footage during which Rogan used the N-word. He said it without malice and never taunting a person of color, but the lowlight reel forced a rare apology from the comic podcaster.

Things looked grim, and the liberal press piled on.

Except Spotify CEO Daniel Ek stood by Rogan. And, when the smoke cleared, the podcaster renewed his contract and returned to outside platforms like iTunes and YouTube, drastically expanding his cultural reach.

Rogan later spearheaded a comedy revolution in Austin, Texas. His Comedy Mothership is the city’s unofficial stand-up hub, and major talents like Roseanne Barr, Tyler Fischer, Tom Segura, and Tony Hinchcliffe relocated to Austin to partake in Rogan’s free expression revolution.

The 2024 Rogan is bolder than ever, exposing media bias and pushing free speech from his Spotify perch.

Shane Gillis

The husky stand-up forged his fame via his self-deprecating delivery and apolitical musings. He even caught the eye of Lorne Michaels, the guru behind “Saturday Night Live.”

Gillis signed on to join the show’s 45th season, giving the show a voice that wasn’t part of the doctrinaire left.

He had arrived, but social justice warriors begged to differ. They found some of his old podcast routines featuring crude Asian imitations. Gillis was gone, having never set foot on “SNL’s” hallowed stage.

Some SNL regulars fade into the Hollywood woodwork following their show exit. Surely Gillis would fare the same, if not worse.

Except he refused to slink away.

Gillis leaned on YouTube, his loyal fan base, and social media to rebuild his brand. And it worked. He became part of the comedy rebellion, stand-ups who refused to play by the left’s rules. He was neither conservative nor liberal. He was ... funny.

And his star just kept rising.

Need proof? SNL swallowed its corporate pride and invited Gillis on to host an episode earlier this year. That, plus a starring role in the Netflix comedy series “Tires,” proved Gillis out-hustled his critics.

Megyn Kelly

The Fox News superstar left the channel in 2017 for a cushy daytime gig at NBC. Her self-titled talk show struggled in the ratings, leaving her vulnerable on two fronts.

Her Fox News fame had left a permanent target on her back. Weak ratings meant the Peacock network’s investment wasn’t panning out.

So when during a discussion about "offensive" Halloween costumes Kelly wondered aloud why blackface was out of bounds, the left pounced. Kelly’s apology wasn’t enough.

That gave NBC an excuse to cut ties with Kelly even though the network was on the hook for part of her remaining salary.

It seemed unlikely Kelly would slink back to Fox News, and the blackface “scandal” meant no mainstream outlet would take a chance on her. She turned to podcasting, marshalling her velvety voice and hard-news chops to lap the competition.

It worked. The show caught fire, attracting major news players and celebrities alike. The podcast grew and grew, catching the eye of SiriusXM suits.

The satellite service snatched “The Megyn Kelly Show” up, acknowledging its power in an increasingly cluttered media landscape.

Why? Kelly’s brand of reportage is smart, sophisticated, and backed by facts. She slices through corporate media lies and offers transparency at a time when it’s sorely needed.

She even snagged a voice gig on “Mr. Birchum,” the Daily Wire’s irreverent cartoon series to cap her improbably comeback.

Morgan Wallen

The country music star angered the left by defying COVID-19 protocols early in the pandemic. And, as a straight, white country crooner, he checked more unwelcome boxes on the identity politics ledger.

In February 2021, TMZ leaked footage of a drunken Wallen uttering the “N-word.” He didn’t target a person of color, it was just dumb talk amongst friends. Very dumb talk.

Wallen’s career evaporated overnight.

Radio stations boycotted his music. His representatives cut ties with him. Country music awards shows blocked him from attending their galas.

Wallen apologized, went to rehab, and appeared genuinely forlorn about the matter.

Few stars have fallen that far, that fast, for a word uttered away from the stage and without malice. Months later, we’d learn that first son Hunter Biden repeatedly used the N-word in text messages.

Zero repercussions.

Wallen’s fans recognized both his contrite nature and the two-tier approach to his “crime.” A Biden family member? Move along, nothing to see here. A beloved country star? Get ‘em!

Wallen gingerly crept back into the spotlight, and his fans were waiting for him. And how.

“Morgan Wallen Dominated The American Music Industry In 2023 Like No One Else Could,” screamed the Forbes.com headline.

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Morgan Wallen breaks silence about arrest for chair-throwing fiasco: 'I'm not proud of my behavior'



Country music star Morgan Wallen broke his silence about his arrest for throwing a chair off the rooftop of a bar in Nashville, Tennessee.

On Friday, nearly two weeks after his arrest, Wallen posted a message on the X social media platform.

"I didn't feel right publicly checking in until I made amends with some folks. I’ve touched base with Nashville law enforcement, my family, and the good people at Chief’s. I'm not proud of my behavior, and I accept responsibility," Wallen wrote. "I have the utmost respect for the officers working every day to keep us all safe."

Wallen assured his fans that his One Night at a Time tour would continue as planned and "there will be no change."

Wallen kicked off his One Night at a Time tour in Indianapolis on April 4. He is scheduled to perform across the country with Bailey Zimmerman, Nate Smith, and Lauren Watkins opening for him.

Chief's is the bar where the chair-throwing incident happened and is owned by country music star Eric Church.

Wallen, 30, was arrested around 11 p.m. on April 7. He was charged with three felony counts of reckless endangerment and one count of disorderly conduct.

The "Wasted on You" singer allegedly threw a chair off the rooftop of Chief's Bar. The chair reportedly crashed to the ground approximately three feet from where two Metro Nashville Police Department officers were standing on Broadway.

Wallen was booked for the arrest at 12:36 a.m. and released at 3:29 a.m. The singer's bond was listed at $15,250.

Wallen is scheduled to make his first court appearance on May 3, which is the same day that he has a concert slated at Nissan Stadium in Nashville later that night.

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Country music star Morgan Wallen arrested on 3 felony charges at Eric Church's bar in Nashville



Country music star Morgan Wallen was arrested and charged with three felony counts on Sunday night at Eric Church's new bar in Nashville, Tennessee.

Wallen threw a chair off the rooftop of Chief's Bar on Sunday night, according to the Metropolitan Nashville Police. The chair reportedly crashed to the ground approximately three feet from where two police officers were standing on Broadway.

WKRN-TV reported that staff members at Church's bar informed police that Wallen had thrown the chair off the rooftop, which is six stories high. Officers reportedly reviewed footage of the incident, which showed Wallen "lunging and throwing an object over the roof," according to the arrest report.

Wallen was arrested and booked just after 12:30 a.m., according to WWNY-TV.

The 30-year-old country music singer was charged with three counts of reckless endangerment and one count of disorderly conduct. Wallen posted a bond of $15,250 and was released from Davidson County Jail around 3:30 a.m.

The "Wasted on You" singer is scheduled to appear in court on May 3, according to the Davidson County Criminal Court website.

Wallen is playing a concert at Nashville's Nissan Stadium on May 3 as part of his "One Night at a Time" tour.

His attorney, Worrick Robinson, said in a statement: "At 10:53 pm Sunday evening Morgan Wallen was arrested in downtown Nashville for reckless endangerment and disorderly conduct. He is cooperating fully with authorities."

Church had just enjoyed the grand opening of his Chief’s Bar over the weekend.

In May 2020, Wallen was arrested and hit with intoxication and disorderly conduct charges after being kicked out of Kid Rock's Big Ass Honky Tonk Rock N' Roll Steakhouse in downtown Nashville.

In 2016, Wallen was charged with DUI, but the case was dismissed.

Wallen's arrest comes just days after his ex-fiancée got married. Katie "KT" Smith got engaged to Luke Scornavacco on March 29, then wed her fiancée on April 3.

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Country music singer Morgan Wallen arrested in downtown Nashville www.youtube.com

Video of catfight at Morgan Wallen concert goes viral, 'Romper Stomper' said she was defending her mom in porta-potty brawl



Viral video caught the moment that several women engaged in a vicious catfight in and around porta-potties at a Morgan Wallen concert in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Multiple female country music fans were in line to use the porta-potties during Wednesday's Morgan Wallen concert.

A woman gets in the face of another female concertgoer and screams, "F*** you. You do not cut in front of me!"

The two women exchange shoves, and a woman violently pushes another woman into the open door of a portable toilet that a surprised woman was about to exit. The brouhaha escalates inside the porta-potty. A concerned onlooker gives her drink to a friend to hold and then attempts to break up the fight.

A fourth woman wearing a blue romper and white cowboy boots marches into the porta-potty and forcefully drags out a woman by pulling her hair while punching her in the head at the same time. Then the woman in the blue romper punches and kicks the woman who initially attempted to break up the fight. Then the peacemaker is thrown to the pavement by the woman who was originally involved in the brawl.

The women involved in the nasty catfight dispersed before police arrived, and no arrests were made.

A spokesperson for Pittsburgh’s Department of Public Safety told Billboard that there were "plenty of ejections for intoxication," but it was unknown if any of the combatants were kicked out of the PNC Park venue hosting the concert that was part of Wallen's "One Night at a Time" tour.

The video of the country music concert brawl quickly went viral. Footage of the porta-potty brawl was uploaded to social media by Barstool Sports on Thursday afternoon and had racked up nearly 13 million views by Saturday on the X platform, formerly known as Twitter.

(WARNING: Graphic video)

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The woman who went into a romper rampage during the fight was later identified as Dalanie DiSabato – who has been nicknamed as the "Romper Stomper."

"I didn’t really realize that I cut in front of this girl," DiSabato told the BFF podcast. "And I walked into the bathroom, and my mom was standing outside of the door, guarding the door, because this girl was pissed. Like, she was mad."

DiSabato said she walked out of the porta-potty and "saw two girls ganging up" on her mom, so she "just did what I think any daughter would have done, I beat the f*** out of them."


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Music journalist suggests country fans are racists, says they and 'other supporters of racial slurs' are buying Morgan Wallen tickets in droves



Music news outlet Consequence of Sound rolled with a story headline Tuesday that reads, "Country Fans, People Who Like N-Word Buy Ungodly Amount of Morgan Wallen Tickets."

And if the headline isn't inflammatory enough, a sentence in the first paragraph of Wren Graves' story gets more specific: "Country fans, and various other supporters of racial slurs, have bought over 700,000 Wallen tickets since the tour was announced three weeks ago."

"Country fans, and various other supporters of racial slurs": How do you feel about that, country music fans?

What's the background?

Wallen made big headlines earlier this year after a video surfaced of him using the N-word — and then his label, Big Loud Records, suspended him indefinitely and radio stations dropped his music.

But less than a week later — akin to a collective "Oh, yeah?" — it was reported that Wallen's sophomore effort, "Dangerous: The Double Album," was skyrocketing in sales.

In fact, just a month later, the "Dangerous" album shattered a 64-year music chart record as it spent its eighth-straight week in the Billboard 200's No. 1 slot.

Wallen, as you might expect, apologized for his use of the N-word: "The video you saw was me on hour 72 of a 72-hour bender, and that's not something I'm proud of, either. Obviously, the natural thing to do is to apologize further and continue to apologize, because you got caught, and that's not what I wanted to do ... I let so many people down who mean a lot to me, who have given so much to me. It's just not fair. I let my parents down, and they're the furthest thing from the person in that video. I let my son down, and I'm not OK with that."

Now what?

And after all that, Consequence of Sound seems perplexed and distraught, noting in its story that Wallen's "massive arena tour has become the hottest ticket of 2021" — and then appearing to stick it to country music fans for contributing to Wallen's success.

COS added that nearly all of his tour dates have sold out, and that Billboard has declared "Dangerous" the top-selling album of the year. The outlet also said that while Wallen pledged $500,000 to black-led organizations in response to his N-word controversy, a September COS article said he was several hundred thousand dollars short of that promise.

What did observers have to say?

Commenters on the COS Facebook page seemed mixed in their reactions to the outlet's "People Who Like N-Word" story.

Some appeared to align with the outlet's take, with one commenter responding "good headline" and another saying "Lol @ the title. That is accurate." Another ally said "country has been, and continues to be, the bottom feeder of popular music."

But others were annoyed and took COS to task:

  • "Or...I don't know...judging someone because of a drunken mistake is stupid.....But go ahead and bash him and listen to Chris Brown or other artists who have done far far far worse," one user replied.
  • "Country fans aren’t the only ones who like that word or use it daily...or in songs," another commenter offered.
  • "People who like the N-word buy ungodly amounts of rap music," another commenter said.
  • "Y’all are race baiting; pretty f***ed up," another user declared.
  • "This is a s**tty take LMAO this publication is a joke," another commenter wrote.
  • "Unfollowing this ridiculous publication," another user decided. "Worthless."

While Corporate America Tries To Cancel Him, Morgan Wallen Is Going Back On Tour

After corporate America tried to cancel him for a racial slur used with friends, the country singer’s tour is welcome news — but he’s still banned from an awards ceremony next week.

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The New York Times published 2,500 words on a high school cheerleader who used the n-word, but are suddenly silent when the president's son uses the same racial slur.

Nashville Billboards Show Support For ‘Canceled’ Artist Morgan Wallen Ahead Of Academy Of Country Music Awards

While woke corporatists tried to cancel country music Morgan Wallen, his fans erected billboards declaring him Entertainer of the Year.

Following N-word controversy, Morgan Wallen breaks 64-year Billboard chart record, surpasses Garth Brooks, the Eagles, and more



Country star Morgan Wallen has shattered a 64-year music chart record as his album, "Dangerous: The Double Album," spent its eighth straight week in Billboard 200's No. 1 slot.

In February, Wallen came under fire after a video emerged depicting him using the N-word during a rowdy night out, and even though his record company and many radio stations in the U.S. dropped him, the country performer's star continued to rise.

What are the details?

In late February, Country Now reported that Wallen's "Dangerous" album has become the only country album to spend its first seven weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in the 64-year history of the chart.

According to a recent Billboard report, the album continues to dominate the Billboard 200 chart.

"Dangerous is now one of only six country albums that have spent at least eight weeks in total at No. 1," the outlet reported over the last week.

The outlet added, "Dangerous now ties Taylor Swift's 2020 album Folklore for the second-most weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 in the last five years — among albums of all genres."

What could be more impressive, however, is the rest of the company in which Wallen's album is keeping atop the charts.

"Dangerous is also the only country set to spend its first eight weeks on the chart at No. 1," the industry leader added.

Country albums with the most weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 include Garth Brooks' 1991 album "Ropin' the Wind"; Billy Ray Cyrus' 1992 album "Some Gave All"; Taylor Swift's 2008 album "Fearless"; Garth Brooks' 1994 album "The Hits"; and the Eagles' 1977 album "Hotel California."

From Rolling Stone:

The chart dominance of Morgan Wallen continued this week as Dangerous: The Double Album coasted to Number One on the Rolling Stone Top 200 Albums chart. Wallen's set has now been in the top spot for two consecutive months. The backlash over a video of the singer using a racial slur has done little to shake his hold on Number One. Wallen sold more than 7,000 albums and earned nearly 90 million streams.

What else?

Wallen issued an apology for his remarks after the incident, saying that the video did not capture his finest moment.

"The video you saw was me on hour 72 of a 72-hour bender, and that's not something I'm proud of either," Wallen said at the time. "Obviously, the natural thing to do is to apologize further and continue to apologize, because you got caught, and that's not what I wanted to do. ... I let so many people down who mean a lot to me, who have given so much to me. It's just not fair. I let my parents down, and they're the furthest thing from the person in that video. I let my son down, and I'm not OK with that."