Denzel Washington has made it clear he isn’t losing sleep over cancel culture.
While promoting his upcoming film Highest 2 Lowest alongside director Spike Lee, Washington was asked by Complex News if he ever worries about being “cancelled.” The two-time Oscar winner paused and asked, “What does that mean — to be cancelled?”
When the interviewer, Jillian Hardeman-Webb, explained that it meant losing public support, Washington quickly shot back, “Who cares? What made public support so important to begin with?”
Hardeman-Webb noted that “followers now are currency”, prompting Washington to deliver a firm response: “I don’t care who’s following whom. You can’t lead and follow at the same time, and you can’t follow and lead at the same time. I don’t follow anybody. I follow the heavenly spirit. I follow God; I don’t follow man. I have faith in God. I have hope in man, but look around; it isn’t working out so well.”
He went on to add, “You can’t be cancelled if you haven’t signed up. Don’t sign up.” Stretching his arms out and laughing, Washington joked to Lee, “Don’t get me started. You know, my chest is getting tight talking about it.”
Washington has long expressed a similar disregard for public validation. In an earlier interview with journalist Jake Hamilton on Jake’s Takes, he said he doesn’t act for awards. “I don’t do it for the Oscars. I really don’t care about that kind of stuff,” he admitted.
Reflecting on his decades-long career, he added, “There are times when I’ve won, shouldn’t have won, didn’t win, and should have won. Man gives the award. God gives the reward. I’m not that interested in the Oscars. People say, ‘Well, where do you keep it?’ I say, ‘Next to the other one.’”
Washington concluded, “I’m not bragging. I’m just telling you how I feel about it. On my last day, it isn’t going to do me a bit of good.”