Cancel culture is here — and it's not going anywhere. If we're honest, though, it was here long before it had a catchy name. Celebrities and their sometimes offensive, insensitive, and nonsensical views, as well as their occasionally rash behaviors, have been earning the ire of the public for decades. Sometimes, celebs are even canceled for being too accepting and tolerant. We think what it really boils down to is that anyone who is in the public eye is going to be subjected to harsh criticism more often than the rest of us.
Some might say it's a hazard of the job, and we don't exactly disagree with that. But when it comes to celebrities, things tend to blow over after a while, so it doesn't surprise us that a number of so-called canceled celebrities have managed to make a comeback at some point after their misdeeds were aired.
That said, some celebs totally deserve to be canceled — and for good — but yet a number of stars who have done truly awful things have still managed to keep their careers afloat. Read on to find out which stars have landed themselves in Hollywood purgatory but managed to make a career comeback after being canceled by the social media masses, their peers, and even some of their once-adoring fans.
Kevin Spacey
For years, actor Kevin Spacey was at the top of Hollywood's A-list, and then suddenly, he was a pariah. In 2017, the House of Cards star was accused of sexual misconduct toward a minor by fellow actor Anthony Rapp. Kevin apologized and, at the same time, admitted that he's gay, and then basically no film or TV execs would go anywhere near him for a few years. But in 2021, his comeback came in the form of a small role in what's looking to be exactly the sort of film that will make it big in Hollywood. He's been cast in the upcoming movie “L’uomo Che Disegnò Dio,” or The Man Who Drew God.
Louis C.K.
Comedian Louis C.K. had made it to a level of fame and success that few stand-up comics ever do, and then in 2017, multiple women accused him of sexual misconduct, and his career came to a screeching halt. Nearly a year after he publicly apologized, he started dropping by small comedy theaters around the country, and within just a couple of years, he was quietly selling out his own shows once again.
Kevin Hart
Kevin Hart nearly lost it all in 2018 when homophobic jokes and tweets he had made in the past resurfaced. Not long after it was announced that he would host the Academy Awards, he was pressured into stepping down. Many thought that was it for Kevin — especially because he initially refused to offer an earnest apology — but he has gone on to become one of the biggest comedy stars in Hollywood, acting in movies such as Jumanji: The Next Level and Netflix's Fatherhood.
Chrissy Teigen
In 2021, multiple reports of online bullying were made against model, TV personality, and influencer Chrissy Teigen. She ended up losing several major retail partnerships for her Cravings brand, and she was forced to step down from her role as a narrator on the series Never Have I Ever.
Chrissy initially took a weeks-long break from social media and the public eye but later initiated her own comeback with a vulnerable Instagram post. Now, she mostly uses her platform to promote her foodie company. And she still has a whopping 35 million followers on Instagram, so clearly not everyone canceled her.
Mel Gibson
Another former A-lister, Mel Gibson was canceled long ago due to anti-Semitic and homophobic statements he made on multiple occasions, but for some reason, Hollywood just keeps trying to help him resurrect his career. Now, years after his disturbing views came to light, Mel is on tap to appear in — count them — seven movies!
Gina Carano
Just as she was hitting her stride with her success as a regular on the Disney+ series The Mandalorian, former MMA fighter Gina Carano got herself canceled. A number of tweets and social media posts highlighting her questionable and often-offensive beliefs about politics, religion, and the global health crisis came to light, and she was swiftly fired from the series.
Now, however, she's made herself a new career path, embracing her right-wing beliefs even harder. She signed a production deal with Ben Shapiro's Daily Wire and transformed her social media accounts into platforms to further advance some of the very opinions that got her into trouble, cornering the market on people who share her views.
Ryan Adams
Musician Ryan Adams got into some serious hot water over sexual misconduct allegations that came out in 2019. The album release he had planned for that year was axed, and it looked like his career was done for good.
More than a year later, he issued an apology, and a few months after that, he released the album under his own label. Some music publications avoided the album like the plague, but Ryan was validated when fellow musicians Lucinda Williams and Lindsey Buckingham raved about it, giving him the push he needed to release another album the next year.
Sarah Silverman
Comedians once made their bread and butter joking about controversial topics, and some like Sarah Silverman have been caught in the crossfire as acceptance of that particular brand of comedy has waned. An episode of her show The Sarah Silverman Program recently resurfaced in which she appears in blackface, and Sarah has said that she's lost work because of it.
She's also been quick to point out that her show featured a lot of similarly problematic content, and she's apologized for it (and largely been forgiven). She's set to appear in the upcoming Jennifer Lopez film Marry Me, so it looks like Sarah's back on track.
Kathy Griffin
Kathy Griffin is another comedian who has been canceled for being too extreme. After she posted a disturbing photo in 2017 of herself holding what appeared to be the bloody severed head of then-President Donald Trump, she was fired from hosting CNN's New Year's Eve broadcast, her tour dates were canceled, and she got herself banned from many major talk shows. But apparently, Kathy's controversial behavior isn't offensive to everyone. Just a year later, Katy sold out a show at Carnegie Hall, and she's been going strong ever since.
Nick Cannon
Nick Cannon has been a beloved figure on TV for years, so it shocked lots of his fans when it came out that he had made anti-Semitic remarks on his podcast. ViacomCBS, which owns MTV and TeenNick, immediately fired him, but it didn't take long for him to get back in their good graces. The very next year he apologized, visited the Holocaust Museum, and donated money to a Jewish organization, and just like that, he got his show, Wild 'N Out, back.
Laura Dern
Actress Laura Dern was reportedly canceled before cancel culture was even a thing. She explained some time ago that after she played Ellen DeGeneres' love interest on the Ellen sitcom in 1997, she lost work and even feared for her life becasue of the anti-gay backlash. She said the issue went on for a couple of years, but she's gone on to have a long and prolific career.
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Schwarzenegger was one of the many Hollywood men to be hit with sexual misconduct allegations during the 2017 #MeToo movement. His expected appearance at an awards dinner was subsequently protested and he was forced not to attend. He apologized for groping the women and admitted to his problematic behavior. Since then, he's cleaned up his image and starred in yet another Terminator movie.
Vanessa Hudgens
Vanessa Hudgens dug herself into quite a deep hole early in 2020 when she took to social media to make light of the global health situation. "Even if everybody gets it, like yeah, people are going to die, which is terrible … but inevitable?" she said on Instagram. In this case, it was the public who was done with Vanessa, but the disdain eventually blew over.
As the health situation roared on, she came to understand the seriousness of it and was quick to voice that. Now she's set to star in Lin-Manuel Miranda's film adaptation of the Broadway show Tick, Tick … Boom! (set to premiere in November 2021).
Liam Neeson
Liam Neeson was a much-loved action star for a long time, but he lost a lot of fans when he made some shocking racial remarks in an interview with the Independent, basically saying that he once went out looking to kill a Black man after a friend of his was raped. In the aftermath, a number of his red carpet appearances were canceled, but he's since made a slew of movies, including The Marksman.
Mark Wahlberg
Mark Wahlberg has done some pretty problematic things in the past. Back in the '80s, he and some friends attacked a group of Black schoolchildren, and not long after, Mark attacked a Vietnamese man, throwing racial slurs at him and permanently blinding him. Though a lot of fans disowned him when they found out and many on social media threatened to cancel him, the fury always seems to die down, and Mark's career has continued to flourish.
Lena Dunham
Lena Dunham has been a controversial figure for pretty much all of her career. She's been accused of being racist, and she defended a colleague of hers when sexual assault claims were made against her, basically saying the accuser was lying. Writer Zinzi Clemmons called for Lena's cancellation, which went on for a while, but she's since resumed her career (although she mostly stays behind the cameras these days).
Chris Pratt
Chris Pratt has upset a lot of people on many occasions, but things really hit the fan after fellow actor Elliot Page revealed that Chris supports a church that reportedly discriminates against the LGBTQ community. People have also been suspicious of his supposedly conservative and right wing-views and beliefs (though he's never confirmed his political leanings). That said, Chris managed to shrug off the criticism and get his career and image back on track shortly afterward.
Chris Brown
Entertainer Chris Brown went through a period of cancellation after that infamous 2009 fight between him and then-girlfriend Rihanna that left her face swollen and bruised. Fans were shocked and disappointed. For years afterward, Chris floundered personally and suffered run-ins with the law, mostly related to substance abuse.
But somehow, his career has remained largely unscathed. There was a very brief period of quiet from him on the music front, but he's since released a number of albums and regularly joins other artists on their tracks. Rihanna has publicly offered her forgiveness, and Chris has gone on to be so successful that his net worth stands at about $50 million.
Robert Downey Jr.
Robert Downey Jr. was never really canceled by his fans, but he was pretty much blacklisted by Hollywood for several years. The Iron Man actor battled addiction for a long time and basically stopped getting offered any film roles or even auditions. It took a while, but eventually he got sober. Once he was deemed reliable again, movie execs welcomed him back with open arms.
