The Deranged Online Left Ruined His Life Five Years Ago Over An Acne Mask

Indulge me in a quick experiment, if you will.

I want you to close your eyes and remember your 14-year-old self.

Think back to all the dumb laughs you used to have with your friends on weekends or over the summer.

Now imagine one of those dumb laughs you shared was blasted all over the internet and ruined your senior year of high school.

That's what happened to Holden Hughes, a then-high school senior at Saint Francis High School in California (shocker).

Except, in Hughes' case, it wasn't even a "dumb joke."

That's right, ladies and gentlemen, in an interview with The Free Press's Frannie Block, Hughes revealed he was "canceled" for wearing blackface when a picture of him and his friends wearing dark green acne masks was shared online.

He didn't drop an N-bomb in the cafeteria, nor was he caught on video rapping along to Kendrick Lamar in the driver's seat of his car.

No, a high school freshman took a picture of himself wearing a silly cosmetic product you could find at your local WalMart and three years later it destroyed his life.

Hughes was summarily kicked off his football team a mere 24 hours after the photo went viral, and was then asked to LEAVE HIS HIGH SCHOOL.

This all took place in June 2020 and, unless you have the memory of a gerbil, you may recall our country was going through a bit of a rough patch at the time.

The George Floyd incident had taken place less than two weeks earlier, so the deranged online left wanted retribution.

Never mind the riots in the streets happening all across the country costing billions in property damage and dozens of lives, it was time to make this 17-year-old kid pay for Derek Chauvin's crimes.

The school was happy to oblige and even aid in the ritual that is "cancel culture," since it was dealing with the backlash of some of its less distinguished alumni creating a meme page to share posts mocking George Floyd's death.

Offering up Holden as a sacrifice seemed to be the school's sick and twisted way of atoning for these unforgivable sins.

Some of the comments on the picture of Holden wearing the acne mask were deplorable and unfounded, including one that read "Hitler’s kids it’s in their blood line. (sic)" 

Others threatened violence, claiming the boys in the photo need to be beaten "with black fists."

As The Free Press reports, Hughes' family was forced to leave town, and Holden, now living in Utah with his father, had to drive 12 hours from his new school just to see the rest of his family.

Your senior year of high school is supposed to be a joyous time, where you get to revel in all your hard work while looking forward to the next chapter of your life.

For Holden, it was a miserable year filled with anxiety, threats of violence, and doubt about his character, both intrinsically and externally.

All of this because a 14-year-old boy took a picture being a goofball with his friends.

The people who shamed and threatened him don't have to answer to anyone for their mistakes. Like a wildfire in a forest, they just move on to the next tree.

This story does have a happy ending, though, as Hughes and his family would end up suing his former school and were awarded $1 million in damages in addition to $70,000 for tuition reimbursement.

It's a nice consolation prize, but you can't put a price on the damage done to a young man's life, his reputation.

Hughes was depressed all throughout his senior year of high school, barely being able to drag himself out of bed sometimes.

His grades and performance on the field struggled as a result.

It's why I always wince when people say "there's no such thing as cancel culture."

This is exhibit A, right here.

Just because Shane Gillis still got to go on SNL after making jokes about Asian people doesn't mean real, everyday people don't get trampled by the "cancel culture" beast all the time.

A child was called "Hitler's kid," threatened to be beaten by "black fists," and then forced to uproot his life and watch his dreams slip through the cracks because a bloodthirsty mob demanded so.

Holden Hughes isn't a cartoon character.

He's a real person, just like you and me, with real dreams and aspirations.

And a combination of an acne mask, a camera phone, and the insane vocal minority of the online left almost tanked his life entirely.

I am glad to hear Hughes is doing well.

He won his settlement, and he's graduating from Drake University this summer, where he got to live out his dream of playing Division I football.

Here's hoping in the journey of life, this incident was just a speed bump for Holden Hughes.