‘We’re being forced into corners’: Comedy icon Dawn French takes aim at cancel culture

Beloved British comedian Dawn French didn’t mince words during a recent discussion on cancel culture, boldly stating that it has “forced people into a corner” and eroded the space for genuine understanding and debate.

During a recent appearance on the Happy Place podcast, the Vicar of Dibley star shared her thoughts on cancel culture, expressing worry about its widespread influence while claiming it undermines key values like empathy and understanding.

“We’re all talking about inclusivity and favouring difference and all the rest of it,” she began.

“And that’s all great, I love the idea of that, but that’s not how we’re living.

“We’re living the opposite of that – we’re massively intolerant, quick to blame, litigation, trolling and all of this dreadful stuff which has got nothing to do with understanding how other human beings operate.

“We are people who know we make mistakes, we know we have shortcomings, we know we have all this stuff but because we are expected to present ourselves as perfect and only celebrate all the perfect things it just wiped out any margin for error.”

 

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French later stressed how important it is to have open discussions to learn and improve but pointed out how hard it is to have these talks nowadays because people feel like they have to be aggressive to defend their views instead of listening and talking calmly.

“But it’s impossible if what we’ve got to do is hunker back into our positions, defend them by spitting and being furious and then blaming and cancelling,” she explained.

“I genuinely think we’re being forced into corners where I can smell my own cowardice.

“I don’t like that – I’ve never been cowardly, I hope, but I’m starting to be that because I’m being circumspect about what I will support or not in case it causes trouble.

“You know, and even thinking about the timing of when I might say such a thing, or what might be cherry-picked out of this and lambasted against me.”

In addition to taking aim at cancel culture, French also recently hit out at society’s obsession with perfection, instead choosing to embrace her “faux pas” wholeheartedly.

French shared her refreshing take on self-image and authenticity during a recent appearance on The Chris Moyles Show on Radio X.

“Nobody’s perfect are they? I don’t know why we tried to pretend to be,” French began.

“We all know that we can’t achieve it but we somehow try to live to be perfect and then we feel like we failed and I’ve gotten to the age now where I just think I can’t do that and actually I didn’t desire to do it.

“Don’t you love your mates the most who come to you and say, ‘I did this dreadful thing yesterday. I told so and so such a thing and I said…’

“Whatever faux par it is? I love people who tell me that stuff, flawed people owning their flaws is my favourite, that’s how you connect with people.”

In a time where cancel culture reigns and perfection is prized, French’s reminder to embrace imperfection and connect through honesty and empathy stands as a beacon of wisdom.