Cancel culture in recent years has seen prominent figures such as Johnny Depp and Chrissy Teigen fall into some sort of irrelevant obscurity. In what started as a way to call out problematic behavior has evolved into merciless bullying. In an interview with the New York Times, Reese Witherspoon discussed how the modern phenomenon should be approached.
“The question is, how do we have more grace as human beings toward each other?” Witherspoon said. “What about people who are genuinely contrite, or who have committed forgivable offences? I don’t think, as a society, we’ve gotten there yet.”
The actress appeared in the feature alongside costar and producer of The Morning Show, Jennifer Aniston. The second season of the award-winning series landed on Apple TV+ this month and follows the aftermath of disgraced television anchor, Mitch’s (played by Steve Carrell) departure.
“The first season dealt with the #MeToo movement and its repercussions — turning over the rocks and seeing what’s underneath,” Mimi Leder, director and co-executive producer of the series, told the publication. “The second season deals with identity. We’re asking a lot of tough questions about cancel culture, sexuality, race and the like. We’re asking our characters to examine who they really are.”
At The Morning Show premiere in 2020, Witherspoon described how her and Aniston’s characters have a feminist vibe to them.
“Our characters are two people with very similar goals but different ideologies because of their backgrounds,” Witherspoon explained. “Jen’s character existed in a world that was dominated by men. Just the fact that she existed was all that mattered. My character is like, ‘Hold on, no, no, no. If you’re not bringing other women with you, what are you doing?’ [The women are] not antagonistic or competitive. It’s second-wave feminism meets fourth-wave feminism.”
The Morning Show is streaming now on Apple TV. Episodes drop every Friday.
