Will Smith is Too Privileged for Cancel Culture

Will Smith fears he may face repercussions for slapping a man on national television. Not legal repercussions, of course. Smith is an actor, so he can hit someone and then refuse to leave an event with no problem. No, Smith worries that Hollywood might cancel him.

"His biggest fear is that he’s in the process of being fully canceled, and there’s nothing he can really do about it except sit back, suck up his punishment like a man and try to atone however he can," a Smith insider -- I guess those exist -- told Us Weekly on Wednesday.

Well, it's too late to sit back and take his punishment "like a man." He slapped Chris Rock like a prom queen, so "like a man" is not an option.

Anyway, Hollywood will not fully or even mildly cancel Smith. "The Slap" has become a racial issue. TV hosts and entertainment writers are already alleging that it's racist for white people to comment on or react to the incident.

According to Tiffany Cross at MSNBC, white people should not talk about his slap because they were just "guests" during the assault.

"When did you get an opinion? This is our family table," Cross warned the whites.

Race-baiters like Cross and Jemele Hill, who took a similar stance, are proactively protecting Smith. They are warning Hollywood not to cancel him or else they'll be sorry.

See, if the film industry rejects Smith, dutiful writers and anchors will shout that white people are punishing Smith for a black stereotype. That's the threat and writers and directors will not risk Twitter users calling them racist.

Cancel culture is not evenly distributed. It's not about the action itself but who commits the action. That applies to racist comments (see Bomani Jones), homophobic blog posts (see Joy Reid) and now assault (see Will Smith).

So no one has yet canceled Smith, and no one ever will. His resignation from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences was merely symbolic. He can and will re-enter the Academy if he's ever up for another Oscar award.

At most, Will Smith may lay low for a few months out of embarrassment. It's called privilege.