Rob Schneider declares 'cancel culture is over' after woke Canadian audience gets triggered by jokes

Actor and comedian Rob Schneider has declared that cancel culture is “over” after receiving significant backlash for jokes that were labeled by audience members as transphobic, misogynistic, and anti-vax. 

Schneider’s comedy set on June 1 at a hospital fundraiser in Canada was met with outrage from the audience, as many attendees expressed their discomfort with the content of Schneider's jokes, particularly as the event took place on the first day of Pride Month.

“Everyone in the room was groaning, saying, ‘What is going on?’ Like, whispering to themselves,” one attendee, Tynan Allan, told CBC. “Not a single laugh at times.”

Allan also said that some audience members were “in tears” during the event as Schneider continued his jokes.

“It was just very apparent how uncomfortable everyone felt and how unacceptable the things he was talking about were,” he added.

The Hospitals of Regina Foundation, which organized the event, issued a statement condemning Schneider's performance following the backlash.

“While we recognize that in a free and democratic society, individuals are entitled to their views and opinions and that comedy is intended to be edgy, the content, positions and opinions expressed during Mr. Schneider’s set do not align with the values of our foundation and team,” the statement read.

“We do not condone, accept, endorse or share Mr. Schneider’s positions, as expressed during his comedy set, and acknowledge that in this instance the performance did not meet the expectations of our audience and our team,” it added.

Schneider’s performance has sparked widespread criticism, particularly because of the timing and the nature of the jokes. Despite this, Schneider remained firm in his stance against cancel culture, asserting that it is "over."

The comedian said on Thursday in a TV interview that audience members have become too “uptight” about what you can joke about on TV and he prefers stand-up comedy instead.

“People get uptight about stuff. That's why it is important I have a dark theatre to perform in where people can hear things they can't hear on TV,” Schneider explained.

“The idea is to be able to express things and to let out, people can laugh at things. It's not attacking anybody, though some people claim it is,” he added.