Hollywood superstar Denzel Washington blasted woke Hollywood cancel culture in an interview for Complex alongside famous director Spike Lee. He also rejected the importance of social media, stating, “I don’t care who’s following who,” and emphasized following God before man. Returning to social media, he laughed, You can’t be canceled if you haven’t signed up.”
Additionally, Washington has criticised Hollywood several times, as we reported, he took issue with the overly dramatic Hollywood actors who equate filmmaking with war. The sensible actor stated that making films is a “luxury” and “gift,” and not comparable to fighting in a dangerous conflict. His remarks were likely made in response to an interview with A-lister Tom Cruise, who was quoted as saying filming felt “brutal” like war.
In any case, Denzel took on cancel culture in a confident interview where he asked, “What does that mean — to be canceled?” Building on this point, he added, “Who cares? What made public support so important to begin with?” At this point, Spike Lee, an iconic director, laconically said, “I couldn’t care less.”
Turning to the folly of social media, Washington stated, “I don’t care who’s following who. You can’t lead and follow at the same time, and you can’t follow and lead at the same time.” Mentioning his deep faith in God, he said, “I don’t follow anybody. I follow the heavenly spirit. I follow God, I don’t follow man. You can’t be canceled if you haven’t signed up. Don’t sign up.”
Concluding his remarks, the Hollywood icon addressed rumors of his retirement, saying, “I didn’t say I was going to go into retirement… I’m more interested in getting behind the camera.” Mentioning his plans for the future, Washington added. “I look at life in three sections: you learn, you earn, you return. I’m in the return part of life.”
This is far from the only time Denzel Washington has taken issue with woke Hollywood culture. While speaking to the Hollywood Reporter in 2016, he pointed out, “People say ‘the difficulty of making a movie.’ Well, send your son to Iraq. That’s difficult. It’s just a movie, relax. I don’t play that precious nonsense. Your son got shot in the face? That’s difficult. Making a movie is a luxury. It’s a gift. But don’t get it twisted, it’s just a movie.”
These remarks were likely directed towards comments made by Tom Cruise in 2013. The famous actor claimed, “I train, you know, I’ve studied, you know, professional athletes, Olympians, in order to, you know, a sprinter for the Olympics, they only have to run two races a day. When I’m shooting, I could potentially have to run 30, 40 races a day, day after day.”
"*" indicates required fields
Doubling down on his out-of-touch comments, he compared his works to the harshest battles of the Global War on Terror, quipping, “I didn’t hear the Afghanistan [comment], but that’s what it feels like, and certainly on this last movie, it was brutal. It was brutal.”
However according to TMZ, “Cruise’s lawyer, Bert Fields, says the notion that Tom compares his acting to fighting a war is a distortion, pointing to a section in the deposition — not part of the deposition that was publicly released — in which Tom is asked, ‘Do you believe the situations [being in a movie and fighting a war in Afghanistan] are the same?’ Tom replies, ‘Oh, come on.’ Fields says that clearly means ‘of course not.’”