Legendary comedian and movie star Chris Rock has joined the growing list of celebrities who are rallying against cancel culture.
In recent years, regular folk have been quick to 'cancel' something they personally disagree with or something from the past that hasn't 'aged well'.
But Rock reckons this culture of voicing severe opposition to things that don't sit well is creating boring and unfunny content.
Advert
Speaking to Power 105.1's The Breakfast Club, the star of the Saw reboot film Spiral, said: "When everyone gets safe and nobody tries anything, things get boring.
"I see a lot of unfunny comedians, I see unfunny TV shows, I see unfunny awards shows, I see unfunny movies - because everybody's scared to make a move.
"And that's not a place to be...Now you got a place where people are scared to talk."
Advert
Comedians have been under a lot of pressure from the rise of cancel culture.
They're sometimes called out for insensitivity or offensiveness when reciting their material and that can cause them to be cancelled if their jokes hit the wrong nerve.
But Chris Rock says comedians don't need a barrage of angry tweets or to be rejected from hosting awards shows if their material doesn't keep up with society's standards.
"You don't really have to cancel us, 'cause we get the message - they're not laughing!" he said.
Advert
"When we do something and people aren't laughing, we get it. Like, 'Oh, you think you know more than the audience?' The audience knows more than everybody."
He reckons the audience in the room should be the ultimate arbiters of cancel culture because things can be taken out of context when consumed differently.
Rock certainly isn't alone in his criticisms of cancel culture. Ricky Gervais said last year that the new trend is preventing artists from being risky.
Advert
He spoke with The Times Radio about his iconic TV show The Office UK turning 19 years old and admitted that he probably wouldn't be able to make the same series now.
"[The Office] would suffer because people would take things literally," he said. "There are these outrage mobs who take things out of context.
"This was a show about everything - it was about difference, it was about sex, race, all the things that people fear to even be discussed or talked about now, in case they say the wrong thing and they are cancelled.
"I think if this was put out now, some people have lost their sense of irony and context."
Advert
Other celebrities like John Cleese, Rowan Atkinson and Paul Hogan have all spoken out about cancel culture.
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: Entertainment, Celebrity, Chris Rock