Cancel culture escalated to new levels in 2025 as everyone from global leaders to small-time influencers were quick to shame, fire and silence people for their views, missteps and blunders.
What set 2025 apart was that the ‘canceling instinct,’ as experts call it, wasn’t just aimed at individuals.
Whole ideologies, social movements and government programs hit the chopping block, largely due to Donald Trump‘s retaking of the White House in January.
‘The obvious change is that the Trump administration and its supporters in the American political right have replicated the worst of cancel culture on the left, with the additional menace that they can wield the might of the US government to cancel people,’ says Steven Pinker, a professor of psychology at Harvard University who writes about cancel culture in his new book, When Everyone knows that Everyone Knows.
Big names canceled in 2025 include the man formerly known as Prince Andrew.
The 65-year-old brother of Britain’s King Charles had stepped back from his royal role starting in 2019 when Virginia Giuffre – perhaps the best-known of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein‘s victims – publicly accused him of sexual assault when she was a minor, an allegation Andrew has denied.
Public outrage grew in 2022 when he settled a civil lawsuit brought by Giuffre without admitting wrongdoing.
The former prince’s public flogging intensified this year after, in a posthumous memoir, Giuffre – who died by suicide in April at 41 – wrote that Andrew ‘believed having sex with me was his birthright,’ describing three occasions Epstein allegedly arranged for her to meet the prince beginning at age 17.
Donald Trump’s retaking of the White House has launched the US into reaching new levels of cancel culture as global leaders jumped into the fray to condemn people for their views
Prince Andrew was one of the most high-profile figures to be canceled after increasing evidence and photographs emerged showing his close relationship with Ghislaine Maxwell and Jeffrey Epstein, prompting Buckingham Palace to strip him of his titles and royal roles
Buckingham Palace acted swiftly to control the damage to the crown, yanking Andrew’s status as a prince and the Duke of York, leaving him now known simply as Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor.
With that decision comes Andrew and his ex-wife, Sarah Ferguson, being booted from their home at Royal Lodge in Windsor.
‘These censures are deemed necessary, notwithstanding the fact that he continues to deny the allegations against him,’ the palace stated about Andrew.
‘Their Majesties wish to make clear that their thoughts and utmost sympathies have been, and will remain with, the victims and survivors of any and all forms of abuse.’
Commoners also experienced viral public humiliation this year.
Perhaps the most outspoken among them is Kristin Cabot, a human resources executive from New Hampshire whose ‘kiss cam’ moment with her also-married boss, Andy Byron, at a Coldplay concert in July was captured live via Jumbotron and went viral.
The video led to her resignation from her job at his company, Astronomer, online harassment labeling her a homewrecker and slut, and public discussion about cancel culture itself.
Cabot, 53, recently spoke out about the wrath she endured in the aftermath, saying she was doxxed, received 500 or 600 calls a day and threatened with death.
In her posthumous memoir, Nobody’s Girl, Virginia Giuffre, who died by suicide at 41 in April, alleged that Prince Andrew believed sex with her was his ‘birthright,’ claims that further intensified hia public flogging
One of the more pop-culture-driven cancellations involved Kristin Cabot and her married boss, Andy Byron, who went viral after being caught on a Coldplay concert ‘kiss cam’ before awkwardly ducking out of view
‘I made a bad decision and had a couple of High Noons and danced and acted inappropriately with my boss. And it’s not nothing. And I took accountability and I gave up my career for that. That’s the price I chose to pay,’ she told the New York Times in an interview this month.
‘I want my kids to know that you can make mistakes, and you can really screw up. But you don’t have to be threatened to be killed for them.’
Cabot said in an interview with The New York Times that she received much more backlash than her married boss to the point of receiving death threats from fellow women
Having experienced a far harsher backlash than Byron himself, Cabot noted that women have been her meanest critics.
‘What I’ve seen these last months makes it harder for me to believe that it’s all about the men holding us back,’ she said. ‘I think we are holding ourselves back tremendously by cutting each other down.’
As Harvard’s Pinker tells it, ‘Social and moral norms are held up by ‘common knowledge,’ the awareness that everyone knows they exist.’
‘So when a norm is flouted in a public arena, people feel the need to uphold it by punishing or silencing the violator, also in a public arena,’ he says.
A wave of cancellations came in September in the aftermath of the assassination of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Discussing the shooting on air on MSNBC – which, itself was canceled, becoming MS Now in November – political analyst Matthew Dowd described Kirk as a ‘very divisive’ figure and said, ‘Hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions.’
The assassination of Charlie Kirk at a Utah Valley University speaking event in Orem, Utah, brought a wave of cancellations
Discussing the shooting on MSNBC, political analyst Matthew Dowd described Kirk as a ‘very divisive’ figure, adding, ‘Hateful thoughts lead to hateful words, which then lead to hateful actions’
This comment would led the network to axe his contract the same day, labelling his comments as ‘inappropriate, insensitive and unacceptable’
The network ended his contract that same day, saying his comments were unacceptable amid coverage of the breaking tragedy.
Far-right social media figures, including Trump advisor Laura Loomer, worked to expose people either speaking negatively of Kirk or seemingly celebrating his killing.
Many Kirk critics have been targeted for pointing out that in 2023 he said, ‘It’s worth to [sic] have a cost of, unfortunately, some gun deaths every single year so that we can have the Second Amendment to protect our other God-given rights.’
An anonymously-run website called Charlie’s Murderers served as a hub for naming and shaming people allegedly endorsing Kirk’s assassination. Several people listed on the site received death threats.
Sen. Marsha Blackburn successfully demanded the firing of Laura Sosh-Lightsy, assistant dean of students at Middle Tennessee State University, for posting on Facebook that she had ‘ZERO sympathy’ for Kirk, and that he ‘spoke his fate into existence’.
Another figure who faced backlash for her comments on the assassination was Laura Sosh-Lightsy (right), an assistant dean of students at Middle Tennessee State University, who was fired following criticism led by Sen. Marsha Blackburn (left with Kirk’s parents)
A social media post also cost Charlie Rock his job after the Carolina Panthers’ public relations coordinator wrote, ‘Why are y’all sad? Your man said it was worth it,’ on his personal Instagram
‘We won, the President lost, and now I’m back on the air every night giving the most powerful politician on earth a right and richly deserved bollocking,’ Kimmel said in a Christmas Day message to British viewers, claiming that ‘tyranny is booming’ in America.
‘From a fascism perspective, this has been a really great year,’ he added.
Cancellation is also coming for fellow comedian Stephen Colbert, whose The Late Show was nixed by CBS, with the final episode slated for May 2026.
The network officially stated the decision was a financial one, but the conventional wisdom is that the show is being canceled due to political reasons – namely, Colbert’s longstanding criticism of the Trump administration.
Colbert has become a martyred First Amendment folk hero, his 10-month pending cancellation sparking a prolonged national debate about media freedom and claims that the network folded to external pressure.
CBS, in the meantime, only added to criticism of its cancel-culture ways when, this month, Bari Weiss, the newly-appointed and controversial editor-in-chief of the network’s news division, pulled a story from 60 Minutes hours before its much pre-publicized broadcast.
The investigative report about Venezuelan migrants deported by the US to a notorious prison in El Salvador under Trump-era policies included first-hand testimony about harsh and potentially abusive conditions.
Weiss argued the segment wasn’t ready to air, saying it lacked sufficient context and needed on-the-record responses from the Trump administration.
Late night host Stephen Colbert became a free speech idol after his show was axed by CBS, with the final episode slated for May 2026. The network reasons leaned toward financial, but insiders stated that it was largely based on his condemnation of the Trump administration
Embattled CBS News head Bari Weiss also experienced backlash over the weekend after it was revealed she pulled a story from 60 Minutes hours before its much pre-publicized broadcast
The shelved 60 Minutes segment was on Venezuelan migrants being deported by the US to a notorious prison in El Salvador under Trump-era policies
The segment’s reporter, Sharyn Alfonsi, denounced the cancellation as politically motivated, with journalists nationwide echoing her concern, warning that forcing on-the-record comments from uncooperative officials gives them a de facto ‘kill switch’ over reporting
Critics, including Sharyn Alfonsi, the 60 Minutes correspondent who reported the story, slammed the cancellation as political.
Echoed by journalists nationwide, she warned that requiring on-the-record comments from a government that declined to participate gives officials an effective ‘kill switch’ over reporting.
The unbroadcast segment was leaked to YouTube, in the meantime, probably garnering far more viewership than it likely would have had Weiss not nixed it.
Trump and the culture wars he and his MAGA movement have helped engender have triggered a spate of 2025 cancellations.
Those started the day of his inauguration when country music star Carrie Underwood performed America the Beautiful, hurting her reputation with anti-Trump parts of her fanbase.
Trump’s takeover of the Kennedy Center also brought cancellations. A run of the musical Hamilton was called off as creatives and producers cut ties over institutional leadership changes and perceived political conflict.
Then, protesting a move earlier this month by the center’s new Trump-controlled board to rename the venue The Donald J. Trump and The John F. Kennedy Memorial Center for the Performing Arts Center, Chuck Redd, the longtime host of annual Christmas concerts there, called off the performance.
Trump, House Speaker Mike Johnson and some conservative commentators have tried to bring cancel culture to the Super Bowl in February by criticizing the NFL’s choice of Bad Bunny as the halftime act as ‘ridiculous’ and a poor fit for the event.
Country music star Carrie Underwood was lambasted for performing America the Beautiful at Trump’s January inauguration by her anti-Trump fanbase
Trump’s takeover and renaming of the Kennedy Center sparked cancellations, with the Hamilton cast and longtime Christmas concert host Chuck Redd pulling out of performances
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump attend the 48th annual Kennedy Center Honors in Washington DC on December 7
Kirk’s Turning Point USA even announced an alternative ‘All-American’ halftime show to celebrate ‘faith, family & freedom’ in opposition to the Puerto Rican rapper and singer’s performance.
Right-wing outrage about the NFL’s Bad Bunny pick mirrors broader efforts to cancel diversity, equity and inclusion efforts.
Several corporations, including Walmart, Target, Amazon, Google, Meta, McDonald’s, Ford, and Disney have rolled back DEI efforts in their workforces. Those moves triggered some public backlash, including consumer boycotts of certain brands, especially Target.
Trump and his DOGE efforts have virtually eliminated DEI in the federal government, including in the military, one of the first institutions to implement affirmative action in the 20th century.
The administration also has canceled other massive government programs, ending longstanding labor, civil rights and environmental regulations and nixing hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for health care, human services and climate and other scientific research.
It also abolished wide swaths of US foreign assistance, including billions of dollars for USAID programs that funded long-term development, disaster relief and global health programs around the world.
Former US Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush called the dismantling of USAID a ‘travesty’ and a ‘colossal mistake.’ And some analysts argue that the US canceling so many of its global aid programs may enable other powers to strengthen their influence in parts of Africa, Asia and Latin America.
Also geopolitically, the Israel–Hamas war that began in 2023 has, two years later, continued triggering a wave of cancellations, firings, rescinded offers and public backlash tied to people’s statements (or silence) about Israel, Gaza and Palestine.
Donald Trump called the NFL’s decision to give the Super Bowl halftime show to Puerto Rican rapper Bad Bunny ‘crazy’
Amid Trump’s major cuts to US foreign aid, including USAID, former Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush called the move a ‘travesty’ and a ‘colossal mistake’
The Israel-Palestine war has triggered widespread cancellations, with individuals on both pro-Palestine and pro-Israel sides losing jobs
What’s striking, experts say, is that people have been ‘canceled’ from both directions – for being seen as too pro-Palestinian or too pro-Israel.
Graduates have had job offers revoked after signing or being associated with statements criticizing one side or the other. Student groups, both pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel, depending on the campus, have been suspended. University presidents have resigned under political pressure because of their stances on the conflict.
Israeli performers and artists struggle to book gigs outside of their country. Amid protests that Israel should be banned from the popular Eurovision song contest, Spain, Ireland, the Netherlands, Slovenia and Iceland have pulled out of the competition.
Meantime, the pro-Palestine Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) movement called for the boycott of Radiohead’s 2025 tour, arguing against what it called the band’s ‘complicit silence’ and support of Israeli performers during the ‘genocide against Palestinians in Gaza.’
In the American right-wing, varying views on – including American support for the country and its stances on Palestinian rights – have prompted calls for commentators such as Tucker Carlson, Megyn Kelly, Candace Owens and Nick Fuentes to be canceled.
Loretta Ross, a women and gender studies professor at Smith College, warns against the acceleration of what she calls ‘outrage culture.’
‘People are realizing we’re going too far with this instinct to cancel anyone and everybody who doesn’t agree with us,’ she says. ‘We just can’t dismiss people just because they woke up later than we wanted them to.’
