Can Individual Brands Recover From Being Cancelled?

I’m officially 50% done with my MBA and on the back half of this degree, and taking marketing this session. As a career marketer, I’m excited to dig in deeper to some topics I already know and broaden by knowledge with more areas of marketing.

For the first assignment, we were tasked with writing about an individual whose brand has been canceled, and if there is any chance of their brand recovering, and engaging with two classmates. I immediately thought of Kanye West as someone whose brand cannot recover.

Kanye West

For an artist with a brand that doesn't shy away from bold statements, Kanye West has still found a way to become canceled by alienating his audience, starting with a shift to sharing conservative political viewpoints to having public antisemitic views and statements.

In 2005 after the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, during a live broadcast charity telethon Kanye West ad libbed some bizarre remarks about racial perceptions in looting, then famously said, “George Bush doesn’t care about Black people” (Shockroc1, 2006, 0:01:35). That sort of comment, critical of the President but a position he could understandably hold as a Black person, would not ruin his brand. Kanye continued his commercial success in years to follow with albums and singles being certified Platinum by the RIAA (RIAA, n.d.)

2016 started the shift in his ideologies that would lead to criticism and being “canceled”. In 2016, he ranted during a concert criticizing Hillary Clinton and praising Donald Trump and shifted his ideologies to Christianity and right-wing beliefs. Expressing conservative viewpoints alone would not lead to his cancellation, however, it marked the beginning of the shift of his brand perception.

In 2018, West tweeted agreement with conservative political commentator Candace Owens, and tweeted, “We’ve been hearing about slavery for 400 years. For 400 years? That sounds like a choice” (Ihaza, 2023). Understandably, the public had a very negative reaction to him insinuating that enslavement was a choice, with him being criticized by his fan base. 

In 2018, he remarked on the potential damage to his brand by endorsing Donald Trump for president, saying, “Just as a musician, African-American, a guy living out in Hollywood, everyone around me tried to pick my candidate for me. And then told me every time that I said I liked Trump that I couldn’t say that out loud or my career would be over” (Mier, 2022). West at the time was clearly aware and sensitive to the public’s perception and possible criticism. 

In 2019, West made an unusual choice that was the first hint of his anti-Semitism; he produced an opera called Nebuchadnezzar about the biblical king who conquered the Jews. (Ihaza, 2023).

In 2022, he took to fashion as a statement, wearing a shirt saying “White Lives Matter” at a fashion show in Paris, in rebuttal to the Black Likes Matter movement (Mier, 2022). As West is Black, it marks an extremely noticeable shift from the 2005 statement calling out the head of state for his slow reaction to Hurricane Katrina, which impacted the Black population of New Orleans. This further damaged his brand.

He continued on in 2022 with anti-Semitic public comments, tweeting “going death con 3 ON JEWISH PEOPLE” and an image of a swastika (Ihaza, 2022). This got him banned from Twitter/X. 

He tried to recover in 2023, but the public has not bought it. Adidas, his partner in producing his Yeezy shoe line, terminated the business relationship over his antisemitism. He did make an since-deleted apology post in Instagram written in Hebrew (Zemler, 2023). The Anti-Defamation League described the post as, “the first step on a long journey towards making amends to the Jewish community and all those who he has hurt” (ADL, 2023). 

I would argue that at this point, there is nothing that he can do to recover his brand; a repeated history of hateful remarks demonstrates his true feelings. He has lost respect in the music, fashion and entertainment industry. Music reviewers refused to review his latest album, Vultures, and Vultures has not been certified Gold or Platinum by the RIAA. He is forever associated with his hateful beliefs and no amount of apology social media posts will undo that damage.

However it is important to note that West has a history of mental illness. He has had hospitalizations for psychiatric emergencies and made public comments about being prescribed and taking medication for mental illness. His behavior is not the same as a person of sound mind who makes a poor judgment call being “canceled” but his actions are still harmful by spreading hateful and violent messages against communities that already face discrimination.

Representative Jeff Jackson

After my analysis of Kanye I was so curious to see which other people my classmates would write about. Some I knew, some I didn’t. One of my classmates wrote about Representative Jeff Jackson (D-NC), a relative newcomer to the public eye. He’s facing backlash and a declining follower count on TikTok after voting for the TikTok ban bill recently, because it seemed hypocritical.

I used to enjoy seeing Representative Jackson's content on TikTok when he was just a candidate. However, I gave up TikTok about a year ago for Lent and never went back so I was out of the loop about this development, and decided to respond back to this classmate as a political figure’s career lives and breathes based on public support.

Rep. Jackson built his platform on being approachable yet qualified to serve in Congress as a lawyer and member of the United States Army, and speaking to younger people where they hang out online: TikTok. He had a clear message, communication, strategy, and understanding of his target demographic that would allow him to gain the awareness needed to stand a chance at actually getting elected. 

I think Rep. Jackson is like many elected officials who after becoming elected, have access to more confidential information as it pertains to national security that allows them to make different decisions than the general public, and thus their actions differ from the messaging and rhetoric they used in their campaign.

However, what’s interesting is that the law isn’t just proposing a ban - TikTok would be allowed if the company is sold, so Rep. Jackson personally could have been hoping that’s what would ultimately happen. Also, I find especially interesting that you shared that he issued a public apology but continues to get backlash; I think this demonstrates more about the people who use TikTok and their loyalty to the app.

I think Rep. Jackson is an example of how being in the limelight can be a double-edged sword for politicians. Other nationally known representatives like Katie Porter or Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez have big social followings and awareness as they have a more public profile than most representatives. In contrast, for elected officials with a more modest social following online, if they make a blunder that upsets their audience they have “less to lose” since they are not as visible online. Ultimately, however, Rep. Jackson’s TikTok audience is not the one that will keep him employed or re-elected as representative; it's more important that he balances the interest of his district and his constituents. 

Morgan Wallen

Finally, what about someone whose public image was damaged, but made a comeback? One classmate wrote about country singer Morgan Wallen, who was caught on video using a racial slur in what appeared to be a drunken state.

After this initially happened, some members of his audience rose to support him by purchasing his music, using this event as a way to push back on cancel culture itself. Wallen could have ridden that wave to maintain the revenue but what helped him truly recover his career was how he chose to own up to his actions.

I would argue that Wallen really went above and beyond to atone for his action. Using a racial slur is never acceptable, but the context that he did so while likely drinking and in a private social setting differentiates it from the artist I covered earlier, Kanye West, and his history of public anti-Semitic remarks. What Wallen did was not good, but it was not at “incites violence” level of bad. Still, Wallen apologized publicly, told his fans not to defend him, made an effort to meet with Black leaders, and donated $500,000 to various Black music related organizations (Earl, 2023). I think his prohibited participation in the awards ceremonies for awards he was p for also was an appropriate action for those organizations to take against him.

It’s clear than Wallen really took the time to put in the work to better himself and took the “punishment” without complaint, all of which compiles into him showing the public he learned from this experience. He has recovered from this incident by understanding what different segments of the public would expect to see before forgiving him and then supporting his music. His commercial success has recovered, as evidenced by at least 17 of his singles being certified Gold or Platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America since November of last year (RIAA, 2024).

Conclusion

Whatever you think about cancel culture, it’s clear that there’s not just one storyline whenever a public figure faces scrutiny for their actions. Sometimes context matters, sometimes it doesn’t. Sometimes a person can recover, sometimes not. Ultimately, what sets recovery apart is if someone does some half-hearted damage control executed by a publicist compared to a genuine effort to make amends to the people or communities they hurt. The public may be quick to call out when people either slip up or act out, but it seems like forgiveness is not a totally forgotten concept.

References

ADL [@ADL]. (2023, December 26). After causing untold damage by using his vast influence and platform to poison countless minds with vicious antisemitism and hate [Image attached] [Post]. X. https://twitter.com/ADL/status/1739675016516563155?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1739675016516563155%7Ctwgr%5E67760dffba69f62a2b8653d3792cc4bfdbef26e5%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.rollingstone.com%2Fmusic%2Fmusic-news%2Fkanye-west-apology-jewish-community-antisemitic-comments-1234936039%2F

Earl, W. (2023, December 6). Morgan Wallen Says ‘I Will Never Make an Excuse’ for Using Racial Slur, but ‘I’m Really Not That Guy’. Variety. Retrieved March 19, 2024, from https://variety.com/2023/music/news/morgan-wallen-never-make-an-excuse-racial-slur-1235824338/

Ihaza, J. (2023, December 26). How Did Kanye Get Here? A Short History of Provocation and Extreme Rhetoric. Rolling Stone. Retrieved March 15, 24, from https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/kanye-west-antisemitism-hate-speech-controversy-1234611647/ 

Maheshwari, S., McCabe, D., & Karni, A. (2023, March 14). House Passes Bill to Force TikTok Sale From Chinese Owner or Ban the App. The New York Times. Retrieved March 18, 2024, from https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/13/technology/tiktok-ban-house-vote.html

Mier, T. (2022, October 3). From the Trump Supporter Who Called Slavery a Choice: Kanye West Wears ‘White Lives Matter’ T-Shirt. Rolling Stone. Retrieved March 15, 2024, from https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/kanye-west-wears-white-lives-matter-shirt-1234604315/

Recording Industry Association of America (2024, February 13). Gold and Platinum - Kanye West. RIAA. Retrieved March 15, 2024, from https://www.riaa.com/gold-%20platinum/?tab_active=default-award&se=Kanye+west&col=certification_date&ord=asc 

Recording Industry Association of America (2024, March 8). Gold and Platinum – Morgan Wallen. RIAA. Retrieved March 19, 2024, from https://www.riaa.com/gold-%20platinum/?tab_active=default-award&se=morgan+wallen#search_section

[Shockroc1]. (2006, April 17). Bush Doesn't Care About Black People [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIUzLpO1kxI

Zemler, E. (2023, December 26). Kanye Suddenly Decides His Hitler Talk Was Bad. Rolling Stone. Retrieved March 15, 2024, from https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/kanye-west-apology-jewish-community-antisemitic-comments-1234936039/