People used to be scared to death of ‘cancel culture’ and how it would affect them. Celebrities swore it was like the boogeyman, that they would lose their whole careers. For some people, this may have been true but their errors were also gravely serious. Moreover, if you played your cards right, it was practically a blip on the radar. But Daniel Caesar felt the brunt of backlash that led a lot of people to outright discard him for a while. Now, with a new, successful album, he’s reflecting on when he thought it was all over.
In an hour long conversation with The Breakfast Club, Caesar thought back to the 2019 night that got him in so much hot water. Social media personality YesJulz posted a picture of herself in 2017 with a shirt that said “N***as lie a lot” on it. YesJulz, of course, is a white woman. In the end, she apologized for the post and life went on, her career still in shape. However, Daniel Caesar stood up for her anyway in a drunken stupor. He reveals that the whole debacle came as a result of him internalizing the whole situation. By making it about himself, he dug himself too deep.
Daniel Caesar Recalls How Cancellation Impacted His Life
“As time has passed, I’m like, ‘Oh, they were 100 percent right,’” he said. “When you accept this type of behavior from people that throughout history have exemplified to you that they hate you, and then you accept the behavior to get out of the circumstances that you’re in, it’s undignified. You’re giving up your own dignity.”
At the time, Daniel Caesar just felt bad for YesJulz. He saw someone desperately trying to assimilate after an upbringing that caused a lot of isolation. “When I look at YesJulz, I see an orphan girl that wants to be Black,” he explained. “I’m like, damn, that’s so mean, bro. I felt bad for her, especially being a Black kid that grew up only surrounded by white people. The way she grew up, what is she supposed to do? She’s trying to embody what she understands.”
Ultimately, Daniel Caesar doesn’t regret the whole debacle, only because it allowed him to understand more about himself. No longer as naive, he’s grateful to have learned instead of holding all the hatred in. “It forever changed the trajectory of my whole life, for sure,” Caesar added. “I just, I thought I was being honest with myself and I didn’t realize how much anger and hatred I had in my own heart. … For the world around me, and for myself.”
The post ‘I Thought I Was Being Honest With Myself’: Daniel Caesar Reflects on How Being Cancelled ‘Forever Changed’ His Life appeared first on VICE.
