21 Celebrities Who People Believe Were Unfairly Canceled

They deserve some major apologies.

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Earlier in the year, we wrote a post about celebrities who received vast amounts of backlash and criticism and were unfairly canceled because of it.

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Then people in the comments shared their own examples of people who they felt didn't deserve the backlash they got. Here are some of those examples:

1. Shannen Doherty

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"The media portrayed her as a wreckless, out-of-control bitch. The press reported on her personality as if she and her character on Beverly Hills, 90210 were the same, and then anything she did or said was just confirmation of that 'fact.' She’s continued to be dragged down through her time on Charmed and her fight with cancer."

—Andrea Dawn

2. The Chicks

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"Literally, all they did was criticize George W. Bush and their career was over. They’ve never been able to come back from that."

—Jillian Beebe

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3. Janet Jackson

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"I will NEVER understand how Janet Jackson was the villain in that story, when Justin Timberlake grabbed the pasty that was covering her breast."

—RichardRocketfan

4. Rebecca Black

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"I don't love 'Friday,' but she was 13 years old recording a silly song with her friends for her birthday, and she was viciously attacked for months. She went on Good Morning America, and grown adults asked this CHILD on national television whether the response to the song had made her suicidal. I don't particularly care what people think about her singing, but that is unacceptable behavior, and Rebecca Black deserved so much better."

—meredithb8

5. Fiona Apple

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"She was bullied by the media for being mentally ill. Tabloids frequently published top 10–type articles about her 'crazy'/'bad girl' moments."

—samanthah45178ee47

6. Hayden Christensen

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"Hayden Christensen shouldn't have been canceled for acting in a movie he didn't write that wasn't even bad. The choices are wild, but that's because the movies are wild as hell."

—P1nkL3m0n4d3

7. Bob Paris

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"I think we lost one of the greatest bodybuilders of all time because he came out as gay. The bodybuilding agencies and the sponsors who dumped him, the toxic media, and the intolerant fans all need to apologize to Bob Paris. The bodybuilding community will never know what it lost."

—holysmokelee

8. Tiger Woods

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"If Tiger Woods is a sex addict, that's no one's business. It has nothing to do with golf and shouldn't affect his career. I could see how it can affect his influence as a celebrity, but as an athlete, it doesn't matter."

—ILitterallyLoveThis

9. Jenna Marbles

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"I don’t feel she should’ve been canceled over a video that was taken out of context."

—phoebef4fcca66c1

10. Colin Kaepernick

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"Every NFL franchise colluded to keep him out of the league after he took a knee during the anthem in the 2016 season. Didn't break any laws, didn't even break any league rules. He was blacklisted, and the only justice he received was a settlement from the NFL so he wouldn't take them to court."

—bbomb2112

11. Megan Fox

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"Megan Fox deserved better than the way media constantly sexualized her and ignored anything she had to say. She has numerous interviews trying to talk about being uncomfortably sexualized by Michael Bay when she was a teenager, but the audience and interviewer would just cheer as if she wasn’t talking about predatory behavior. Megan is so smart and eloquent, NOT the person Hollywood would have you believe."

—u/ToxicFluffer

12. Monica Lewinsky

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"Yes, she had an affair with a married man, and that's not okay. But she was also young and naive, and it's gotta be pretty hard to say no to your boss when he's not only a rich and charming white man but also the MOST POWERFUL PERSON ON EARTH. There's pretty much no way for that dynamic not to be coercive, but the media laid all the blame on her. She's spent her entire adulthood being called a slut and a whore and a home-wrecker, while Bill Clinton got off scot-free. Hell, even Hillary has caught more flak for the situation than he has. Monica went through the most intense and thorough public shaming in modern history and came out of it an intelligent, kind, and good-humored person. She absolutely did not deserve the level of vitriol she received, and I admire the hell out of her for her strength of character in weathering the aftermath."

—Nomi

13. Katherine Heigl

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"I don’t think she deserved anywhere near the crap she got and still gets. All she did was speak her mind. I get that she dissed the writing [on Grey's Anatomy] in the process and kinda went the wrong way about it. But I love that she stood up for her beliefs."

—stevenacious

14. Taylor Swift

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"Back in 2016, everyone shit on her because Kim Kardashian edited a phone call. Too much of Taylor Swift’s personal life was aired out by media publications. Poor girl had to go through so much just because Kanye West interrupted her VMA speech."

—louise

15. Brendan Fraser

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"He was so unfairly treated by media and Hollywood just because he talked about Hollywood abuse. I hope he makes a big comeback now that people believe how right he was."

—s4bb472acb

16. Laura Dern

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"When Laura Dern played Ellen’s girlfriend on the episode where she came out, she was blacklisted by the industry for nearly a decade. She says her manager warned her she wouldn’t get roles if she agreed to take the part, but she did so anyway. She went from Jurassic Park and being in demand to nobody giving her a call."

—u/antmars

17. Kathy Griffin

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"No photograph could ever merit the treatment she suffered. She lost jobs; even CNN fired her in one of the most hypocritical moves I’ve ever seen. Her friends deserted her. She was harassed and threatened constantly. The only work she could get was overseas, and she was put on the no-fly list and had to deal with that hassle at every airport."

—mysticp

18. Corey Feldman

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"He was the first who told everyone what was really going on with child actors in Hollywood, and no one listened. Barbara Walters yelled at him for exposing it."

—u/gemin_eye0614

19. Brandi Chastain

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"Brandi Chastain was dragged heavily for ripping off her jersey when her team won the World Cup."

—suefury

20. Michael Phelps

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"Remember when Michael Phelps got canceled because he got caught smoking weed?"

—u/gkantelis1

21. And Jane Fonda

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"She got canceled because, while reporting in Vietnam, she went to Hanoi (where many American prisoners of war were held captive and tortured) and interviewed Vietnamese soldiers. To foster goodwill so they'd be more open to the press, she was very nice to them, performed a song, and posed for photos. This was reported by the conservative media at the time as a betrayal of US troops. In reality, the conservatives just hated her because she was an atheist and very popular."

—mathewschonmorgan

Which celebs do you believe were wrongfully canceled? Let us know in the comments below!

Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.

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