Meet These Cancel Culture Survivors

Cancel Culture victims are legion, but no one has been targeted quite like J.K. Rowling.

The Harry Potter author broke rank with fellow progressives in 2020, and shes been paying the price ever since.

Yet she persists, to tap a progressive catchphrase. So do other stars who refused to back down. They ended up even bigger as a result.

Rowlings Cancel Culture sin was agreeing with most people on one of the eras most explosive issues. The authors social media defiance on trans doctrine caused an immediate outcry. The media pounced and seized . So did fellow progressives and trans activists.

This is the moment when many Cancel Culture targets begin their Apology Tour.

Not Rowling.

She held firm at the time and has yet to flinch over four long years.

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Over that time, shes received death threats , watched her name repeatedly get erased , and has been betrayed by the actors she helped make household names, including Harry Potter franchise alum Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson.

Except her Harry Potter legacy is as powerful as ever. The video game extension of said franchise, Hogwarts Legacy, boasted sales above and beyond expectations despite attempts to cancel the title.

Max decided to revive the Harry Potter franchise via an upcoming TV series, one of the streamers biggest projects to date. The platform even invited Rowling to vet the talent behind the saga.

Rowling stood up to the mob and emerged as a more powerful force.

Comedian Tyler Fischer endured a very different brand of cancellation. No one resurfaced one of Fischers old gags to get him professionally pummeled.

He simply fought back against DEI-style discrimination and for medical autonomy.

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Fischer decided early in the pandemic not to get the COVID-19 vaccine. He was young, healthy, and had already survived a brush with the virus. The latter gave him natural immunity, something the medical powers that be downplayed at the time.

His decision cost him both friendships and gigs at a time when his career was still a work in progress.

Fischer didnt get political, nor did he give up. He stuck to his principles, created viral-friendly impressions of Dr. Anthony Fauci, and rebuilt a career without Hollywoods help.

He did fight back, though. He filed a lawsuit against his former management team for admitting they couldnt find work for a straight, white male .

And he kept on hustling.

He co-starred in not one but two DailyWire+ films: Lady Ballers and Terror on the Prairie. He paired with fellow rebel comics JP Sears and Ryan Long. He ingratiated himself to Fox News viewers via Gutfeld!

And he just landed the most coveted spot for any modern comedian The hot seat on The Joe Rogan Experience.

Comedians once saw The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson as the ultimate sign they had made it. If Carson invited you to the NBC couch after your set, it was the ultimate sign of respect.

Now, a chat with Rogan serves a similar purpose. Fischer has officially made it, and he did so without betraying his values or free speech principles.

Comic legend Roseanne Barr actually said something awful and should have apologized for it immediately.

Thats exactly what she did after she crudely compared former Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett to a Planet of the Apes character on Twitter.

Apology not accepted, even if she had a track record of reaching out to minority scribes on her eponymous sitcom. ABC fired Barr from her own sitcom and killed off her iconic character, turning the series over to The Conners.

Decades atop the Hollywood food chain ended with the speed of a Tweet.

She was done.

She laid low for a while, finally using a FOX Nation stand-up special as her official re-entry into showbiz. From there, she started a feisty podcast, co-starred on DailyWire+s Mr. Birchum series, and made herself a familiar face in Austin, Texas, the new comedy epicenter.

Shes now an elder statesperson in the countrys hottest comedy scene, part of the Rogan revolution where free speech reigns supreme.

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In a way, Barrs cancellation is ongoing. She wont be welcomed on any late-night show or Saturday Night Live episode going forward. No Hollywood studio will tap her for a comic cameo or supporting role.

She doesnt need it anymore.

Nor does Shane Gillis, but the feeling isnt mutual.

The affable comic snared the gig of a lifetime in 2019 when Lorne Michaels chose him to join Saturday Night Live. Gillis old material resurfaced, including a crude routine with Asian stereotypes.

He got canned before the seasons first episode aired.

Many might have called it a career. Not Gillis. He kept on creating, from stand-up gigs to his hilarious Gilly and Keeves YouTube sketch series.

Charley Gallay/Getty Images for Netflix

Gillis also leaned on social media platforms to build his base, posting full-length stand-up specials on YouTube with dizzying results. His Live from Austin special has generated 28 million views since going live in 2022.

Suddenly, SNL had second thoughts. The show invited Gillis to host the program that tried to cancel his career.

Meanwhile, Netflix ordered up a Gillis special, Beautiful Dogs, along with an original comedy series (Tires).

Its worth acknowledging that other stars have done and said far worse without a hint of cancellation. Alec Baldwin and Ezra Miller rush to mind.

These canceled stars didnt deserve the cultural punishments meted out by the modern Left. They proved too talented to stay canceled.

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Christian Toto is an award-winning journalist, movie critic, and editor of HollywoodInToto.com. He previously served as associate editor with Breitbart News Big Hollywood. Follow him at@HollywoodInToto.

The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.