After SNL fired one of its newest comedians, Shane Gillis, over racist statements he made during a podcast, there has been a lot of talk about the Cancel Culture. Read recent articles and opinion pieced from The New Republic, CNN and the Washington Post.
Small businesses, solopreneaurs and individuals are not immune to feeling the retribution of hurtful statements or actions.
Also, See the large number or private citizens who have sent lost their jobs when a moment captured on mobile video or a tweet or Facebook posts go viral and Internet sleuths track down their employer.
When an influencer or blogger or small biz personality grows a substantial following, she or it become a public figure and thus, it is imperative that you respond to the crisis in a particular way.
First, if you catch yourself in the situation where there are calls for boycott of your product, there are two things that you should never say and three sentiments you should convey.
Also, do not get arrogant. Do not attempt to substitute your barometer for what you think is offensive or not. Just don’t go there. Finally, after the SNL fiasco, I saw a few people try to drag Dave Chappelle into the conversation because he just finished releasing a very controversial Netflix special where he was quite offensive (as usual) and pushed the boundaries in the “me too” era.
Chappelle, like Beyonce, Donald Trump, and Kanye West and brands like Apple and H&M, are virtually “cancel-proof”!
You’ll find it hard to get a gaffe or a controversy to get them to lose their audience and base because they are such large figures and their fans are super loyal!
Here is a video I did on the topic that I recorded last week and recently shared on my YouTube Channel (closed caption for hearing impaired)
Jay Jay Ghatt is also editor at Techyaya.com, founder of the JayJayGhatt.com and JayJayGhatt.com where she teaches online creators how to navigate digital entrepreneurship and offers Do-It-For-You Blogging Service. She manages her lifestyle sites BellyitchBlog, Jenebaspeaks and JJBraids.com and is the founder of BlackWomenTech.com 200 Black Women in Tech On Twitter. Her biz podcast 10 Minute Podcast is available on iTunes and Player.fm. Follow her on Twitter at @Jenebaspeaks. Buy her templates over at her legal and business templates on Etsy shop!
