Cancel Culture is Deadlier Than You Think

Philomena Cunk once asked if Jesus was the first person to be victim to cancel culture because he was killed because people didn’t like what he was saying, and I have to somewhat agree. Everything I say, I feel constantly links back to when I said that as a society we are miserable. It’s not that I think people shouldn’t be de-platformed for saying some horrendous and inhumane things, but should they be berated to the point they end it all? Jason Arday’s death was painfully sorrowful, not only because the British media hounded him for weeks, but also because of some of the public’s reaction.

To bring you up to speed, in 2023, aged 37, Arday became the youngest Black person appointed to a professorship at the University of Cambridge. His work focused particularly on improving opportunities for underrepresented students and making school and university curricula more inclusive. He resigned from Cambridge in August 2026 amid disputed allegations of plagiarism and academic misconduct, and died on Friday at age 41. Now, Jason Arday openly accepted that there were errors in his work, but consistently denied any claims that he had plagiarised in his research. Countless media outlets and tabloids reprimanded Arday as well as TikTok’s and several other social media users. But should it have lead to his death?

Now if you’re a decent human you’ll say no, it should not have. Dr Alex posted a thoughtful Instagram post remembering Arday. He took time to remember the first Love Island host, Caroline Flack, who had also ended her own life over speculation and interrogation from the media surrounding abuse claims. He took time to criticise the media saying “just take a look at how the headlines will soften, suddenly it’s about sympathy and tributes” in response to the headlines that followed his resignation. He also maturely pointed out that “this is not finger pointing at any particular media outlet, because it’s all of them.” I sadly agree. It is none of our business to decide and reprimand someone for something they could have done. We have lawyers, we have courts, we have whose entire job and career is to prove and disprove stuff like this.

Now, as a journalist, I believe the media’s job is uncover truth, not add to speculations. Having worked in a newsroom for two weeks, I saw how thorough fact checking, and how serious a breach of factuality can become. I believe that as a journalist I want to tell people stories as black and white as possible, it doesn’t have to come to a stage where people are ending their own lives over what the tabloids have said. I also believe that if you have not read up on what the person has been accused on (and trust me there have been many), respectfully keep your mouth shut. And even you have and you have an opinion that this person shouldn’t have their job anymore, or they’re now the worst person in the world (bit dramatic if you ask me, considering TRUMP is still president) maybe keep it to yourself, or you know, keep it as constructive criticism.

Cancel culture is mayhem, always has been, always will be. People love getting angry over nothing really, and I still believe that we as a society are miserable. To conclude, I think Arday was right to resign considering plagiarism questions his knowledge on his subject, however I believe the way the public and media treated him is an astounding example, of why we need to be kinder to people. This has covered all my social media apps for weeks now, so I needed to get it off my chest. Maybe tomorrow I’ll be back to talking all things aesthetic about my life, who knows?

Let me know what you think, and I’ll see you in the next one.

Eva:)