Cancel Culture Zombies: Can Chris D’Elia Resurrect His Career?

 

On March 18, 2021, Chris D’Elia began recording Episode 178 of his podcast, Congratulations, at 10:46pm, much later than his usual schedule, but then again, the past nine months had been anything but usual for him. “This is a late night one, so you never know,” he said, “sometimes they go off the rails, and going off the rails can be a good thing, but it can also be a fucking dangerous thing for me—as I've learned in the last few months.” 

It might not seem all that surprising that Chris D’Elia got canceled. In fact, he used to joke about it all the time. On Congratulations it wasn’t unusual for him to follow up an off-color comment with “I’m probably going to get canceled for saying that.” At the time, his career was on the upswing, rapidly gaining traction with the successful release of his third standup special, No Pain, on Netflix and a slew of acting roles in the works, including Zack Snyder’s zombie movie, Army of the Dead. As with many celebrities before him, the end came in the form of a Twitter thread. In June 2020, a a woman named Simone Rossi shared screenshots of email exchanges with Chris from 2014 and 2015 in which he solicited photos and asked her to meet at his hotel room. Following her initial tweet, multiple young women followed suit and shared their own experiences with D’Elia, detailing similar exchanges. Several of the women, including Rossi, were underage at the time. 

What followed has become pretty par for the course with these sorts of viral accusations spurred on by the #MeToo movement: D’Elia was promptly and effectively canceled. Within days, his talent representatives at CAA, WME, and 3Arts Entertainment dropped him, his upcoming Netflix prank show was canceled, and Army of the Dead, still in production at the time, recast his role. People were quick to point out the irony that Chris had played a sexual predator on the hit Netflix show, You, along with in an episode of Workaholics. Amazon Prime, Comedy Central, and Hulu all removed the episode from their streaming services. Sponsors of his podcast, Congratulations, revoked their deals and the entire production went silent.  

Chris stopped posting on his social platforms and released a statement to TMZ in which he vehemently denied the allegations, saying, “I know I have said and done things that might have offended people during my career, but I have never knowingly pursued any underage women at any point. All of my relationships have been both legal and consensual and I have never met or exchanged any inappropriate photos with the people who have tweeted about me. That being said, I really am truly sorry. I was a dumb guy who ABSOLUTELY let myself get caught up in my lifestyle. That’s MY fault. I own it. I’ve been reflecting on this for some time now and I promise I will continue to do better.” 

Bryan Callen, Chris' good friend and fellow standup comedian, reacted days later during an episode of his podcast, The Fighter and the Kid, claiming that he knew Chris was a ladies’ man but never saw or knew of him engaging in any of the illegal activity he was accused of. He mourned his friend’s downfall: “It’s like watching someone die." Co-host Brendan Schaub, at a loss for words, broke down in tears and said, “I’m as shocked as anyone. I’m hurt. I’m mad.” 

Unbeknownst to him at the time, Bryan would soon find himself in Chris’ shoes. Only weeks after the episode went live, four women came forward and accused him of rape and sexual misconduct, citing incidents as early as 1999. He denied the claims and stated via Twitter, “I will not allow the cancel culture to subvert what I know and as importantly, what these women know, is the truth.” 

Despite retreating from the public eye, D’Elia more backlash followed in September 2020 when CNN released a report that detailed accusations dating back to 2011 by actress Megan Drust, who alleged that D’Elia had exposed himself to her and masturbated in front of her. Two other women came forward with similar claims of incidents that occurred in 2011 and 2018. D’Elia’s attorney, Andrew Brettler, denied these accusations, and said that Chris "has never engaged in any sexual conduct with any woman without her consent.” 

As D’Elia virtually vanished, his friends and fellow comedians faced the complication of addressing his actions in such a way that they neither condoned nor excused them, mindful that appearing too sympathetic could land them in hot water too. 

Theo Von, in an episode of his own podcast in October, said of the increasing prevalence of viral accusations, “There’s a lot of guys that are afraid...are they going to be written about next? You know, some of the stuff doesn’t have any validity...It makes me feel scared to even talk about...like I have to watch my words, because there’s people out there that want to take people’s livelihood away.” He expressed his hope that Chris would get help and that he would be able to work again.  

In an earlier episode, guest Bobby Lee acknowledged his own conviction to always be on the side of victims, however, he admitted that he was afraid to speak up about Chris and said, “why can’t I say that Chris D’Elia is one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met personally in my life?”  

The dissonance between who we believe our friends are and who others say they are is complicated, and it is only amplified tenfold when facing accusations that condemn someone’s character. Chris’ friends insisted they were blindsided by alleged misconduct because they knew him within the context of the boys’ club that is standup comedy. Several admitted to knowing Chris was a “ladies' man” but had no idea he had engaged in any criminal behavior. 

Not all his peers advocated for him. Comedian Bill Dawes corroborated the claims, commenting to CNN, “He would expose himself in front of his guys he was on the road with and other male comics and he would do it kind of as a joke. He would expose himself in front of other women when other guys were in the room with him...He just seemed really profligate with the way he would go after women, sleep with women, expose himself to women." 

Whitney Cummings, one of Chris’ closest friends with whom he worked on her NBC TV show, Whitney, was quick to condemn his alleged behavior, and tweeted that she was “devastated and enraged by what I’ve read and learned...This is a pattern of predatory behavior. This abuse of power is enabled by silence. Now that I’m aware, I won’t be silent.”  

Chris’ situation echoes the accusations and subsequent cancelations of many male comics before him, perhaps most notably, Louis C.K. However, rather than accept his fate and abandon standup forever, Louis made a comeback on his own terms, providing an unorthodox example of how to resurrect an eviscerated career. This is the zombification effect: once you’re dead, there’s no coming back to life—not in the same way, at least. In his sets post-cancellation, C.K. steered into his infamy, walking on stage to “Notorious” by Duran Duran and kicking off his hour with jabs at himself and his past behavior. Noam Dworman, the owner of The Comedy Cellar in New York, said of his decision to let Louis perform, “He should only be in front of an audience that wants to see him,” thus providing him with a platform and leaving it up to the paying customers to come to their own conclusions: “I don't feel that there's a clear standard out there in the world of when someone is supposed to be fired or denied an audience.” 

After eight months of silence, D’Elia made a much more subdued return. Perhaps his approach might have been different in non-pandemic times, but regardless, on February 19, 2021, he uploaded a ten-minute long video to his YouTube account, titled “It’s been a while.” He began by reiterating his original statement that all his relationships have been legal and consensual. However, he went on to speak openly about his sex addiction and the treatment he has been seeking in the wake of the accusations: “Sex controlled my life...It was my focus all the time. And I had a problem. And I do have a problem.” As a touring standup comedian, he had become accustomed to messaging and meeting up with women in different cities, and admitted that there are many more emails of a similar nature that weren't posted on the internet. He was caught up in a lifestyle he didn’t even realize was problematic, despite repeatedly cheating on past girlfriends, including his current fiancée: “This needed to happen because I wouldn’t have stopped cheating. I wouldn’t have stopped using sex." In the clip, he apologized for lying to both his fiancée and friends and stated that he used sex to conquer his loneliness, fear, and insecurities. When the video concluded without mention of his career, it seemed likely that D’Elia would dip back out of the spotlight and continue on what he called his path to recovery. Instead, a week later he became active on Instagram again. His first post was a video of his son saying his first word, “dada.”  

Fourteen days later, a federal lawsuit was filed, alleging that D’Elia sexually abused and “psychologically punished” a Jane Doe beginning in late 2014. According to the filing, D’Elia solicited and received more than 100 sexually explicit photos and videos from the plaintiff, who he knew was 17-year-old high school student at the time of the incidents.Per the suit, “Ms. Doe suffered significant emotional, physical, and psychological harm as a direct result of Defendant D’Elia’s predatory conduct,” which included asking her to send videos of herself having sex with boys her age, and suggesting she have sex with his friends, including Brian Callen. 

A mere eight days after Chris’ spokesperson vehemently denied the claims and stated that the comedian would “vigorously defend against them in court,” Episode 177 of Congratulations was released on all streaming platforms. While the majority of the forty-five-minute episode was typical Congratulations content—Chris making nonsensical and often irreverent comments about recent news and pop culture topics—he would have been hard-pressed to avoid speaking about what he has been up to for nearly a year, other than spending time with his newborn son, who he credited for “saving (his) life.” “I know I'm in podcast mode right now, but this is a front, man. I’m trying here. I’m trying to get to some semblance of normalcy.” He pointed out the irony that he titled his latest special, released in April 2020, No Pain: “I’m in so much fucking pain and yeah it’s hilarious...I understand the humor in it.” 

In the following episode, Chris delved further into his struggles with his mental health and sex addiction all while trying to maintain his familiar upbeat, comedic tone. He joked offhandedly about not wanting to get canceled again, and thinking to himself, “guess I’ll die now,” when it seemed like the whole world hated him. At one point, he adlibbed a song about revelations in therapy: “you realize that you use sex cuz you’re fucking insecure – something happened to you probably when you were a kid and you had microaggressions on you. Small trauma...you didn’t even know such things existed – you’re fucked up, but when you realize how fucked up you are, you cry at least once a day – sometimes you cry in the car, sometimes you cry at home, sometimes you say bye to your fiancée that you cheated on and then you fucking get in the car and cry.” 

It was a depressed side of D’Elia that had cropped up pre-cancellation—occasionally he had alluded to taking medication for anxiety and depression—but was never such a focal point. How could it not be? His stream of consciousness style of podcasting revealed the immense toll his fall from grace had taken on him, while concurrently amplifying his preexisting insecurities. In the fourth episode after his return, he veered away from his jokes and delved into his lifelong insecurities, the catalyst for his desire to be a comedian, and how he has spent his entire life assuming everyone hates him, and thus his only option is to win them over, whether by being funny, attractive, or kind. This insecurity is a hallmark of comedians. It perpetuates the need to prove oneself by craving approval in the form of applause, instant gratification. 

What is the difference between redemption and zombification? I would argue that those seeking redemption err too far on the side of goodness and caution, effectively dulling their personality in order to be seen in a favorable light. With zombification, the zombie accepts death but continues living on their own terms without hope of resuscitation. This is the approach of Louis C.K. and Chris. If they were to pull back, clean up their jokes, reserve themselves to safe material, they would be dead anyways. The solution, then, is to be the next best thing: a zombie.  

Instead of censoring himself or even second-guessing his every comment, Chris was up to his usual antics and occasional off-color jokes, quipping at one point, “At least I don’t have to worry about what I say anymore.” In relaunching his podcast and career simultaneously, he broached the topic of his cancellation flippantly, and the more he brought it up in successive episodes, the more comfortable he became in openly discussing his transgression, past failures, and ongoing struggles.  

The essence of zombification is the expectation that a person cannot get cancelled twice. It’s a bit radical. After all, public figures such like Chris have received backlash for inexcusable misconduct—shouldn’t we want people like him to disappear? Theo Von put it simply, that this is a time to recognize that “people have depth, and that people are not just one thing.” If Chris is, as he says he is, committed toe bettering himself, seeking help, and learning from his past mistakes in order to become a better father, friend, and fiancé, and if that path involves continuing to do what he loves and has built his life around—making people laugh—shouldn’t he be allowed a platform to do so? With no stakes, no sponsors, nothing to lose, he is restarting on his own terms, with nothing but a Patreon account and the hope that his fans will continue to support him. The content is free for people to watch whether they love him, hate him, or are simply interested to see what he has to say.  

So if Chris can come back and reenter the industry, where does this leave the culture of standup comedy? The main takeaway is that standup comedy is dominated by men, many of whom have used their notoriety to proliferate reprehensible behavior, specifically sexual misconduct. In her tweet, Cummings said, “Girls should be able to be a fan of a comedian they admire without becoming a sexual target. It’s the adult’s responsibility to be an adult.” Similarly, without naming D’Elia, Amy Schumer commended the women who spoke publicly about “the mistreatment they have experienced at the hands of comedians or in any other profession. Especially the ones who weren't of legal age to consent.” Moving forward, it is imperative that we renegotiate the outdated norms that exist within standup comedy. Comics should hold themselves responsible for supporting their peers, both male and female, and discouraging the toxic behavior that has run rampant for decades.  

For now, Chris D’Elia is relegated to his podcast and social media accounts. As far as performing again, he’s both pessimistic and enthusiastic: “I’m gonna bomb, and I hope I fucking bomb...I don’t care.” Regardless, there is an audience for that.