What This Comedian Said Will Shock You

Bill Maher defines cancel culture as the practice of ostracizing individuals for perceived moral or ideological missteps, often based on public outrage amplified by social media. He critiques it as a cultural phenomenon that stifles free speech, enforces conformity, and prioritizes performative virtue over substantive dialogue. Maher sees cancel culture as a symptom of a broader societal trend toward self-righteousness and punitive groupthink, which punishes individuals for offenses ranging from the trivial to the controversial, often with disproportionate consequences. Maher criticizes this phenomenon for stifling free expression and promoting conformity, arguing that it punishes people disproportionately for minor mistakes or differing viewpoints. He sees cancel culture as emblematic of a larger societal shift toward self-righteousness, where the goal is less about justice and more about enforcing ideological purity.

Maher draws parallels between cancel culture and historical purges, such as Mao’s Cultural Revolution, where dissent was crushed by a “Red Guard” of ideological enforcers. He describes modern equivalents, like Twitter mobs, as engaging in the same kind of punitive behavior with little regard for context or fairness. Maher cites the case of law professor Jason Kilborn, who was suspended and subjected to “eight weeks of sensitivity training, weekly ninety-minute sessions with a diversity trainer, and having to write five self-reflection papers” (141) for referencing offensive terms on an exam.