Stephen A. Smith and Clay Travis might not agree on much politically, but they agree on their disdain for cancel culture.
This week saw Travis join Smith’s latest episode of his Know Mercy podcast, where they touched on a variety of political and social topics. During the conversation, Smith asked Travis to define cancel culture.
“Cancel culture is, ‘I disagree with what you said, and you no longer deserve to make a living doing what you do.’ I’m opposed to cancel culture,” Travis said, shortly before posting a video encouraging his followers to cancel Bud Light. “Whether you’re in media like us, or you’re just some random person who goes on Facebook and posts something. I think we should have real conversations.”
Travis used Jemele Hill and Curt Schilling as examples. According to Travis, Hill should have been able to criticize Donald Trump and Schilling should have been able to make anti-transgender comments without punishment from ESPN. Smith and Travis concluded that someone should be able to say something off-camera without the risk of losing their job on camera.
“I think everybody should be allowed to say whatever they think,” Smith added. “Me, personally speaking, I think there’s a level of responsibility that we have to have because of folks, especially young folks that we’re influencing. I think the platform that you say it on matters. I definitely think that, but I’m totally against cancel culture. A lot of times, you have a lot of people out here, as Chris Rock said it best…once upon a time you used to want to get ahead by working your tail off…now you’re just waiting for somebody to mess up.”
Smith has spoken out against “cancel culture” several times, previously stating he wakes up every morning feeling like he’s next in line to be canceled. While very few people are truly “canceled,” the idea of cancel culture gives notable people who get fired over a self-inflicted slip up the ability to play the victim. If Smith truly feared cancel culture, he probably wouldn’t have interviewed a person who built a platform in Outkick that regularly insults ESPN and its personalities.
Why has “cancel culture” slept on Travis and Smith to this point? Those are two people who have sparked outrage and firestorms throughout their media careers, Travis more than Smith. But both continue to make a living doing what they do.
As Smith noted, the platform matters. If an employee says something that damages the brand they work for, the employer has a right to act. Travis self-admittedly lacks sensitivity on his controversial opinions, but he’s able to survive making comments that various groups deem offensive because the brand he works for tolerates it. On the contrary, if Travis hypothetically decided to start preaching only liberal narratives on his conservative radio show, he might not be the host for long.
