{"id":1818183,"date":"2023-01-21T07:50:26","date_gmt":"2023-01-21T12:50:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1818183"},"modified":"2023-01-21T07:55:04","modified_gmt":"2023-01-21T12:55:04","slug":"free-speech-fail-criticizing-pop-stars-now-off-limits","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/free-speech-fail-criticizing-pop-stars-now-off-limits\/","title":{"rendered":"Free Speech Fail: Criticizing Pop Stars Now off Limits?"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Ffree-speech-fail-criticizing-pop-stars-now-off-limits%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1818183&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47-->\n<div><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/Stephen-a-smith-Rihanna-apology-2.jpg\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\" alt=\"image\"   style=\"display:none\"><\/div>\n<p><strong>Teflon has been used in some famous cases by woke public opinion.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>This space is currently occupied by Amy Schumer and Chelsea Handler as well as John Oliver, John Oliver, John Oliver, and Billy Porter. The headlines about these artists are often positive and uplifting, even fawning.<\/p>\n<p>Add Rihanna.<\/p>\n<p>The pop superstar will be center stage at this year\u2019s Super Bowl Halftime extravaganza. It\u2019s a coveted slot for any musician, and Rihanna\u2019s resume made her worthy of the gig.<\/p>\n<p>Except ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith dared to suggest he isn\u2019t excited to see her performance on the big day. Smith appeared on Sherri Shepherd\u2019s\u00a0talk show earlier this week, and here\u2019s what he said about his level of anticipation for the singer\u2019s set.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t want to say I\u2019m not excited, she\u2019s fantastic,\u201d Smith stated. \u201cThere\u2019s one thing she\u2019s not. She ain\u2019t Beyonc\u00e9.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This might be the mildest of barbs, but it suggests that no one can compare to Beyonce. Given today\u2019s rough-and-tumble social media culture, it\u2019s about a 2 on a cruelty scale of 1-10.<\/p>\n<p>Smith thought the backlash was quick, or Smith felt it was significant enough to warrant an apology.<\/p>\n<p>A broadcast professional known for his outsized opinions had to apologize for suggesting one pop superstar wasn\u2019t equally magnificent as another pop superstar.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Shepherd addressed the matter on her show later, suggesting that Smith&#8217;s comments were different because Smith was speaking to a female audience. A mild blast of criticism can make strong, empowered women shiver.<\/p>\n<p>And it didn\u2019t end there.<\/p>\n<p>Leslie Jones, hosting \u201cThe Daily Show\u201d Comedy Central is looking for another comic far-Left to replace it <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodintoto.com\/trevor-noah-cancel-culture-critique\/\">Trevor Noah<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thewrap.com\/leslie-jones-rihanna-super-bowl-halftime-show-stephen-a-smith\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">screeched at Smith<\/a> His thought crime.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDude, no!\u201d Jones yelled. \u201cWhy would you do this to yourself? You know what Stephen A. Smith? You need to act like your hairline and back the f\u2014 off.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Jones also complained about Smith\u2019s apology, focusing on his use of the word \u201csweetie\u201d Jones should not be considered off-limits.\u00a0What Jones should have said, as a comedian and artist, is that telling people they can\u2019t share their opinions is the antithesis of free expression.<\/p>\n<p>Except Jones isn\u2019t a fan of free expression.<\/p>\n<p>She said it earlier in the week. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.mediaite.com\/tv\/you-dont-need-to-be-saying-sht-about-this-statue-daily-shows-leslie-jones-warns-white-people-to-lay-off-new-mlk-sculpture\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">white people cannot share their thoughts<\/a> The controversial new statue in Boston that honors Martin Luther King, Jr.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hollywoodintoto.com\/joe-rogan-beat-cancel-culture-2022\/\"><strong>RELATED: IT\u2019S OFFICIAL: JOE ROGAN WHUPPED CANCEL CULTURE\u00a0<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>After a British celebrity, the Smith kerfuffle was born. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.breitbart.com\/entertainment\/2023\/01\/17\/nolte-looks-like-amazons-blacklisting-jeremy-clarkson-over-meghan-criticism\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">made three mewling apologies<\/a> He was convicted of a similar crime, but he lost his lucrative job.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTop Gear\u201d Amazon fired host Jeremy Clarkson following his exporiation of Meghan Markle by making a profane observation paying homage to a timeless sequence. \u201cGame of Thrones.\u201d Clarkson wrote about Markle:<\/p>\n<p>At night, I\u2019m unable to sleep as I lie there, grinding my teeth and dreaming of the day when she is made to parade naked through the streets of every town in Britain while the crowds chant, \u2018Shame!\u2019 You can throw lumps of excrement at them.<\/p>\n<p>Markle\u2019s supporters lashed out at Clarkson for the comments. The British star tried to appease the Cancel Culture mob \u2013 three times \u2013 but it wasn\u2019t enough to save his gig.<\/p>\n<p>Clarkson would never have made a target of President Donald Trump, Tucker Carlson, or Rep. Lauren Boebert. Similar remarks directed at Candace Owens or Elon Musk would have been laughed at, not reacted to.<\/p>\n<p>Instead, he\u00a0targeted a person who some consider a<a href=\"https:\/\/okmagazine.com\/p\/meghan-markle-backlash-hate-professional-victim\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> professional victim<\/a>He was wrong, and he paid for it. Piers Morgan was a fierce Markle critic. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/entertainment-arts-56334082\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">forced to quit<\/a> his long-standing ITV gig last year for suggesting he didn\u2019t believe what Markle said during her infamous Oprah Winfrey interview.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFreedom of speech is a hill I\u2019m happy to die on,\u201d Morgan said.<\/p>\n<p>That\u2019s where Cancel Culture exists in 2023. It&#8217;s impossible to criticize certain personalities. For others, it\u2019s open season.<\/p>\n<p><strong>UPDATE<\/strong>: <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2023\/01\/20\/stephen-a-smith-goes-off-about-controversy-over-rihanna-comments\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Smith weighed in on his own controversy<\/a> earlier today, railing against the culture\u2019s willingness to silence him.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll of the stuff going on in the world, I\u2019m being accused of Black-on-Black crime because I happen to like one artist more than the other\u2026.I mean, you got to be kidding me! Handcuff me now! Put it behind my damn back! Y\u2019all got to be kidding me!\u2026 Unbelievable!\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Teflon has been used in some famous cases by woke public opinion. This space is currently occupied by Amy Schumer and Chelsea Handler as well as John Oliver, John Oliver, John Oliver, and Billy Porter. The headlines about these artists are often positive and uplifting, even fawning. Add Rihanna. The pop superstar will be center &hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1818186,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[547],"tags":[5458,5707,10875,7041,12758,3819,4554,6316],"class_list":["post-1818183","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-bongino-report","tag-bongino","tag-criticizing","tag-fail","tag-limits","tag-pop","tag-report","tag-speech","tag-stars"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1818183","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1818183"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1818183\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1818186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1818183"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1818183"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1818183"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}