Who Got Most Spectacularly Canceled Online?

The internet takes no prisoners — when you screw up, it’s open season for dunks, drags, mocking memes, and targeted takedowns. It doesn’t matter if you’re a hot celebrity with 5 million followers or a random schmuck tweeting from the bus: On social media, anyone can be canceled. Your only hope is that what you did is more “cringe” than controversial, allowing you to coast back into relatively calm waters. On the other hand, some creators have managed to survive one incendiary scandal after another, immune to both scolding and shame. Here’s a breakdown of the past year’s biggest blowups and how the offenders fared.

Cringey and Coasting

1. Adam Levine: Thanks to the Maroon 5 singer’s flirty DMs with influencers, “That body of yours is absurd” is now an acceptable sext.
2. Mikayla Noguiera: The beauty influencer touted a new mascara on TikTok — but accusations that she was wearing lash extensions sparked a discourse about truth in advertising.
3. Brittany Dawn: She was accused of selling fake fitness packages — and pocketing up to a million dollars. (She’s denied the allegations and vowed to “fight back.”)
4. Liver King: The mega-macho creator swore that he’d bulked up on raw animal testicles as part of a caveman lifestyle. Surprise! It was steroids. Now that he claims to be off the juice, we can continue to enjoy his deranged content.

Coasting and Controversial

1. Elon Musk: He bought Twitter to boost his own corporate propaganda, regressive politics, and terrible jokes. Now, he’s only the second-richest person in the world.
2. J.K. Rowling: The Harry Potter author claims she just wants women-only spaces — but she can’t seem to stop tweeting transphobic content.
3. Aaron Rodgers: Even before he led the Packers to a disastrous season, the four-time MVP became the laughingstock of the NFL for peddling anti-vax views on Joe Rogan’s podcast.
4. Jordan Peterson: The right-wing provocateur posted what he thought was a video of a Chinese facility harvesting human sperm with dick-sucking machines — but it was just fetish content.

Canceled and Controversial

1. Kyrie Irving: His anti-vaccine-mandate statements weren’t great, but it was an antisemitic video he linked that brought the hammer down (got him traded to Dallas).
2. Emu Lady (The Florida One): There were two women who went viral for their emus. This one faced a backlash over cuddling hers when it was potentially infected with deadly avian flu.
3. Scott Adams: The Dilbert creator has a long history of offensive comments, but a pro-segregation rant on his podcast was the last straw.
4. Andrew Tate: He bragged about persuading women to do his bidding, then got arrested for sex trafficking. Though he’s pleaded his innocence, the negative attention may have blown up his spot as the god of angry teenage boys.

Cringey and Canceled

1. Jeffree Starr: The ur-problematic beauty influencer has been canceled so many times we’ve lost count, yet somehow keeps making headlines for his dodgy comments and behavior.
2. James Corden and Keith McNally: Terminally online restaurateur Keith McNally posted about how the late-night host acted like an asshole at his restaurant, Balthazar. Corden apologized. McNally backtracked. Honestly, they both came out looking equally bad.
3. Try Guys: They were the internet’s favorite wife guys, until it turned out one of them was having an affair with an employee. The scandal was whatever. Having to learn about it? Unforgivable.
4. Taraswrld: The OnlyFans star complained about $10,000 Harry Styles tickets. When she declared she was “finna be in the pit,” the mockery became a meme.

From Rolling Stone US.