Chris Rock says cancel culture has turned into an institution that manufactures guilt to justify its own existence, comparing it directly to the Salem witch trials in a recent appearance on The Daily podcast.
“The problem with wokeness is we’re in the Old Testament right now,” Rock said. “And the Old Testament has no forgiveness. The Old Testament didn’t work. So they had to write a remix called the New Testament.”
Asked whether anything redeeming came out of a decade of woke leftism, Rock was blunt, warning that movements go bad once they become institutionalized.
“The Salem witch hunts. I’m sure the first three witches they caught were actually fucking witches,” Rock said. “But then you open up a witch office and now you’ve got to start lying. Now you’ve gotta fucking make shit up because you’ve got overhead. You’ve got to justify the witch hunters fucking pensions and shit.”
Rock made clear he isn’t arguing against criticism or accountability altogether. He said forgiveness doesn’t mean “condoning abusive behavior” and that calling out friends is part of being a friend.
“You can reprimand your friends,” he said. “If you’re only friends with your friends when they’re good, they’re not your friends.”
At the same time, Rock said he was glad cancel culture emerged around 2014, arguing it gave a platform to people who previously lacked a voice.
Rock has targeted woke culture before, including in his 2023 special Chris Rock: Selective Outrage. He’s currently on a press tour for his new film Misty, during which he also made headlines for agreeing with one of Donald Trump’s longstanding complaints.
“I’m not a fan,” Rock said of Trump last week. “But it’s weird when somebody gets one thing right, and the one thing almost clears them of all their other sins. The news is fake. He got that right.”
