On the 15th of February 2023, before a hastily assembled press pack, Scotland’s first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, informed Edinburgh - and the world - of her decision to resign after eight years in the post. The personal cost of political theatre had become all too high for the longest-serving first minister in Scotland’s history. Amidst the furore that descended upon the party, one forerunner in particular made waves: the Cabinet Secretary for Finance and the Economy, and the Member of the...

How difficult is it to be damaged by the consequences of your own actions when you have power and profile to shield yourself from accountability? Case in point: Alec Baldwin. Over the years, the acclaimed actor has been emboriled in scandal after scandal — from tapes being released of Baldwin verbally abusing his daughter, to throwing around bigoted and racist slurs, and most recently, being at the helm of a film responsible for a woman's death. As this episode will delve into, legal and...

In the spring of 2022, two Spanish towns were getting ready to celebrate one of their most famous sons. Hundreds – possibly thousands – of tourists would pack the usually sleepy streets of Javea and Getaria to visit temporary exhibitions displaying the finest haute couture. Intricate womenswear designs from the 40s, 50s and 60s, trimmed with the most luxurious lace, sequins and silk, creating intriguing feminine silhouettes that were considered revolutionary at the time. The occasion? The...

Celebrities can go from flavour of the month to persona non grata within minutes thanks to social media and a general shift towards more progressive views on accountability and responsibility. Few famous media and entertainment folk are as entrenched in this Camp of Public Hatred as Mr James Kimberley Corden. A renewed wave of anti-Cordenism hit last year after the actor-comedian-TV host was publically criticised by London-born restauranteur Keith McNally for his humourless treatment of staff...

In late 1976, the Institute of Contemporary Art or ICA gallery in London unveiled its recent exhibition ‘Prostitution’, a retrospective group show by established art collective COUM-Transmissions. The collective, no stranger to confrontation, couldn’t have predicted the reaction their work would receive, but upon opening, the show was was immediately met with vitriolic reviews in the press, mentioned in the Houses of Parliament and censorship restrictions were placed on some of the...

This is the story of Ricky Gervais, a pioneer of sharp-elbowed comedy who decided to puncture his own legacy of speaking truth to power. In one fail swoop, catalysed by the release of his Netflix stand-up speical, SuperNature, Gervais made a series of jokes which could have been at home on a Republican conspiracy theorist's Twitter and annointed them comedy. In doing so, he exchanged a career's worth of political capital as someone who has ostensibly been a rock soild progressive, just for a...

Jeremy Clarkson — the TV motor man and newspaper columnist — was clearly feeling extra miserable last Christmas when he decided to pen one of the most offensive opinion pieces to ever grace a UK publication. An article so heinous that it not only helped unite the British public – a massive achievement in these divided times – it may well have cost him one of his biggest gigs. And all because he just had to let the world know he despises Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex... This episode was...

The American Music Awards, which have been running annually since 1974, occupy an illustrious spot within the American music industry. The AMAs sit within the Big Three music awards shows in the US, alongside the Grammys and the Billboard Music Awards. And so, it is little wonder that the cancellation of singer Chris Brown’s performance just a few days before the 2022 awards quickly became a big talking point. Infamy has cloaked the 33-year-old songwriter for over a decade as accounts of his...

In the first half of the 20th century the literary scene was dominated by now revered authors, whose books have since become classics. It reads like a roll call of greats - Ernest Hemingway, Marcel Proust, George Orwell, James Joyce, Gertrude Stein, J.R.R Tolkein and, of course, Virginia Woolf, to name a few. Their books need no explanation. With a juggernaut of status behind them, these authors have outgrown their living credibility and become much bigger personalities since death. Time...

From radio show host to Eurovision commentator and best-selling author, Graham Norton is a household name in the UK - his position cemented by his irreverent, innuendo-laden style. He is, of course, most notable for his hugely popular comedy chat show which has seen all manner of celebrity names grace his plump red sofa. However, October 2022 saw a new term float into the lexicon used around the well-known TV presenter after he was posed questions on trans rights and author JK Rowling’s...

Some of the world’s best loved comedians have tiptoed on the edge of decency and political correctness from time to time. Take, for example, the acerbic wit of Joan Rivers, whose skits about the Holocaust regularly whipped her audiences into a tizzy and firmly established her as one of America’s sharpest mouthpieces. Before Perez Hilton blogged and mocked A-listers falling out of rehab, Joan was doing it on stage IRL. It may come as no surprise then, that the star of today’s episode, Kathy...

The year is 2004. George W. Bush is president, Britney is married to K-Fed, and the iPod Classic is the ultimate Christmas gift. But anyone about to upload Baby, It’s Cold Outside to their MP3 device might think twice after reading an article published by Canada’s National Post on December 20th, which argued for the song’s immediate ban from Canadian airwaves. Written by Rob McKenzie and Joe Bodolai for their humour column, the piece is widely regarded to be the first to publicly question...

1987 is a pretty bleak Christmas. The year is marked by disasters. The British economy is wrecked. It is a time when everyone could use some yuletide joy. Challenged by their producer, Elvis Costello, to write a Christmas hit, the Irish-Anglo punk band The Pogues believe they are the ones to provide some egg-nog infused nourishment to the people. Fairytale of New York is what founding member, Jem Finer, and lead singer, Shane MacGowan come up with which will eventually be considered a holiday...

It’s January 2007: at least ten years before ‘cancel culture’ will become a part of our everyday life. The world is a less connected place. Twitter is yet to celebrate its first birthday. The iPhone is nothing but a rumour. Yet, we are about to witness cancellation on a global scale. In January, a new series of UK’s Celebrity Big Brother begins. On its third day, Jade Goody, a fan favourite from the civilian Big Brother House, enters. Over the next two weeks, her life changes forever, for a...

December 20th, 2010. It’s pitch black on-stage at the Foxwoods Theatre in Broadway. Stunt performer Chris Tierney attaches himself to a safety cable, and takes a deep breath. The centre of the stage lifts, creating a ramp. He’s done this many times before. Breathing out, he runs up the ramp and leaps from its edge. Immediately, it’s clear something is wrong. The cable hasn’t gone taut. There’s half a second as he floats in the air, realising that the other end of his safety line is...

Sometimes, those who get cancelled predict their own fall. They tempt fate, because to risk cancellation usually means to incite infamy. Some look for hatred -  and then brandish it as their weapon. Say or do something abhorrent, endure the criticism, and then cry that they’re under attack from the feral woke mob. But in the case of Jimmy Carr, it’s more complex. Comedy is always a dance with the devil. Sometimes, inevitably, you cross the line. To be a comedian is to be a shapeshifter - from...

“You’ve got 3 minutes to change your life”. This is the sentence that Simon Cowell used as words of encouragement to contestants of television singing contest, X Factor. With its title referring to star quality that you can’t quite put your finger on, the show vows to take ordinary, everyday people to the top of the music industry.  For every rare appearance of a competitor praised as a superstar-in-the-making, there were thousands of wannabes who were mocked, ridiculed, and in some cases,...

Originally founded in 1892 in New York City, by David T. Abercrombie, the fashion brand started as an outfitter for the elite outdoorsman. By the time we reach the 2000s, American mall culture is everything and Abercrombie & Fitch’s preppy clothes have morphed into the ultimate accessory for a US teen. After all, A&F aren’t just selling their customers apparel. The company's brand image is heavily promoted as a near-luxury lifestyle concept. For many teens desperate to fit in, donning...

2007 was a hellish year for Britney Spears. It began with the breakdown of her marriage and culminated in a patchy buzzcut, stalking and public humiliation at the hands of the paparazzi, and a bitter custody battle. By the close of the year, she was widely reported to be no longer speaking to her family, an estrangement more significant for the fact that it was Britney’s success that lifted her family out of financial difficulty. The (celestial) stars were clearly not in alignment in 2007 for...

It’s 2013. Miley Cyrus has dramatically shed her Disney Channel persona with her hit track, Wrecking Ball. Daft Punk are dominating dancefloors worldwide with Get Lucky, and Beyoncé has broken all records by dropping a 14-track album with no advance warning. Despite all this, one song looms large over the year - dwarfing all that came before or after it. Its name? Blurred Lines. It’s a cultural flashpoint. The court of public opinion spins into overdrive, with the song’s creators Robin...

At the beginning of the 90s, mainstream pop belonged to a handful of female artists; Madonna, Whitney and Mariah Carey all owned the airwaves with their provocative posturing and emotive power ballads which dominated the top 40 chart. Also emerging at this time, and striking a match amongst her contemporaries was the Irish singer songwriter Sinéad O’Connor. Sinead O’Connor broke the mould and the mainstream with her reworked version of Princes’ classic ‘Nothing Compares To You’. Her voice and...

Like most 21st century corporate crises, this one started with a tweet. On 8 January 2018, New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow took to Twitter to vent at H&M over their choice of model and product on their UK website. The model was Liam Mango, a Black boy. The product was a £7.99 hooded top emblazoned with the slogan ‘coolest monkey in the Jungle’ ‘@hm, have you lost your damned minds?!?!?!”, Charles digitally barked at the second-largest global clothing retailer. Cue the unholiest...

James Charles felt, in a way, entirely original. And of course, for someone at the cutting edge of the internet, his cancellation had to feel unique too. Enter Tati Westbrook, James Charles (full name Dickinson) erstwhile mentor-turned-maker. A stalwart of the online beauty-influencer empire, a perceived slight on her honour led to influencer warfare - untrodden ground for which this conflict paved the way. Long before Oprah’s legendary “were you silent, or silenced” line came to prominence,...

In 2021, a record 493 new people became billionaires – on average there was a new billionaire created every 17 hours. Meanwhile in Britain, over the crisis, the poorest 30% of adults gained an average additional wealth of just £86, compared to £50,000 for the richest 10%. The rich have lined their already deep pockets further, while the poor have only gotten poorer. So, when multi-millionaires chime in with hot takes that essentially shame those on the losing end of wealth inequality for...