Conan O’Brien and liberal Sean Penn DESTROY ‘Soviet,’ ‘ludicrous’ cancel culture

The unhinged, dangerous nature of cancel culture, the targeting of any comment that a small group of people deem unacceptable, is now prompting even liberals to speak out. Conan O’Brien and left-wing actor Sean Penn railed at the “Soviet”-style, “ludicrous” nature of cancel culture.

(Article by Scott Whitlock republished from NewsBusters.org)

Appearing on the July 5 Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend podcast, the two entertainers took turns slamming cancel culture:

CONAN O’BRIEN: Empathy is a very important word and also forgiveness.  This whole concept of cancel culture is “We found that someone did something in 1979 that is now not appropriate. They’re dead to us.” And I think —

SEAN PENN: It’s ludicrous.

O’Brien wondered, “What happened to ‘Let’s talk about that now, but people can also be forgiven, if they even need forgiving’? But what happened to that?” Using the kind of language not seen from Hollywood celebrities, the late night host slammed, “It feels very Soviet.”

We’ve come to the point where even people like Keith Olbermann and the liberal hosts of CBS This Morning are decrying cancel culture.

O’Brien didn’t name names, but he could have been talking about Stephen Colbert or Samantha Bee when he hammered comedians who don’t want to be funny anymore.

I know people in comedy, people who do the job that I do that feel like there’s so much that’s happening that doesn’t feel funny that they feel like it’s their job to speak out about those things. And I think, yes that’s great but it’s easy for that to just turn into anger and outrage and then you’re not, you feel like you’re losing your way as a comedian. And I think that’s what gets so tricky right now.

The job is “how can I reflect some of what’s happening around me, but also for me, I just know that I serve at the altar of silliness and comedy and that is what I need to try and get back to. That’s what I need to — that’s where my strength comes and that means, I have to be honest with you, there are times when the news is such that I feel like my comedy can’t have anything to do with it. And some people might say, “Well, that’s a cop out. You should make your comedy about what is happening right now.” And I just think, frankly, I don’t have that ability. There are times when it’s embarrassing to be in show business.

A transcript is below. Click “expand” to read more.

Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend
7/5/2021

21 minutes in

CONAN O’BRIEN: I know people in comedy, people who do the job that I do that feel like there’s so much that’s happening that doesn’t feel funny that they feel like it’s their job to speak out about those things. And I think, yes that’s great but it’s easy for that to just turn into anger and outrage and then you’re not, you feel like you’re losing your way as a comedian. And I think that’s what gets so tricky right now. The job is “how can I reflect some of what’s happening around me, but also for me, I just know that I serve at the altar of silliness and comedy and that is what I need to try and get back to. That’s what I need to — that’s where my strength comes and that means, I have to be honest with you, there are times when the news is such that I feel like my comedy can’t have anything to do with it. And some people might say, “Well, that’s a cop out. You should make your comedy about what is happening right now.” And I just think, frankly, I don’t have that ability. There are times when it’s embarrassing to be in show business.
44 minutes in

O’BRIEN: Empathy is a very important word and also forgiveness.  This whole concept of cancel culture is “We found that someone did something in 1979 that is now not appropriate. They’re dead to us.” And I think —

PENN: It’s ludicrous.

O’BRIEN: What happened to “Let’s talk about that now, but people can also be forgiven, if they even need forgiving”? But what happened to that? It feels very Soviet kind of sometimes.

PENN: This young woman who was meant to be the editor of Vogue or Teen Vogue magazine.
She sent some texts when she was 17 years old. It really is — I remember the fella who does some of the better interviews for Axios saying, “When we are destroying careers like that, what are we really achieving? What are we doing?”

Read more at: NewsBusters.org and CancelCultureNews.com.