The Pop-Culture Stories That Will Shape The Entertainment Industry in 2022

With the hopes that Covid would retreat and the world largely return to normal failing to pan out, 2021 proved to be another highly unstable year in entertainment. But viruses weren’t the only thing causing earthquakes throughout the industry. Several major stories over the last 12 months have the potential to shift the tectonic plates under Hollywood’s feet in ways we haven’t fully felt yet.

Here are the top five 2021 stories that will continue to cause 2022 aftershocks.

The Implosion of Time’s Up

Few cultural developments have managed to shift the balance of power in Hollywood as quickly and completely as the MeToo movement. Suddenly, the casting couch quid pro quo and predatory tactics that had been an accepted practice for decades were costing the most powerful studio executives in the business their jobs (and in some extreme cases, their freedom.)

Never mind that the movement grew so extreme comedian Aziz Ansari was raked over the coals for being a boorish date and TV host Chris Hardwick was ousted from the pop-culture site he founded based on the dubious word of a spurned ex-girlfriend. It was a crusade built on a righteous quest for female equality and justice. Until it wasn’t.

The revelation that Time’s Up, the MeToo group founded and supported by the world’s most famous actresses, was more committed to the Democrat party than protecting women from sexual harassment has unmasked Hollywood hypocrisy like few other stories before it. Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Shonda Rhimes, Eva Longoria, Oprah Winfrey, Jennifer Aniston, and numerous other A-listers said nothing when the news broke that top Time’s Up leaders compromised the group’s mission by helping to protect alleged predators like former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo and major Democratic fundraiser Russell Simmons because they were political allies.

In fact, since the group’s entire board of directors resigned, the founding celebs have said very little on the subject of sexual harassment or Hollywood’s gender-based power imbalance.

On the surface, that hasn’t stopped recently accused men like “And Just Like That” star Chris Noth from losing gigs, but look closely and you’ll notice how measured his female co-stars were in their public statements about the allegations against him, saying only that they are “deeply saddened” and “support” the women who came forward. HBO, the streaming platform that made him Mr. Big, has said nothing at all.

It’s likewise probably not a coincidence that some of the men brought down by the MeToo movement, including James Franco and comedian Louis C.K., are starting to feel bold enough to address the accusations that had them sitting on the sidelines for the last few years.

That’s not to say that accusers won’t continue to come forward, but the verbal support they receive from corner offices and women in the spotlight will likely be far more subdued. And when they do speak, regular viewers at home will be much less likely to put any stock in their words.

Dave Chappelle, J.K. Rowling, and Gina Carano Mount Woke Resistance

From the implosion of “The Bachelor” franchise to Mike Richards’ short-lived tenure as “Jeopardy” host, the pattern of cancellation has largely held strong in recent years — target says or once said something that offends some privileged group, target issues groveling apology, target is banished from public eye despite mea culpas.

But in 2021 a few significant cracks in cancel-culture’s armor began to appear. One of the prime examples came in February when Disney famously fired actress Gina Carano from hit Star Wars series, “The Mandalorian.” Carano refused to follow the script of trying to preserve her career by begging forgiveness for sharing political opinions that differ from the majority of her industry. Instead, she immediately looked for alternative routes to success, announcing a partnership with The Daily Wire.

A few other, high-profile names joined Carano with their own private rebellions against wokeness’ iron grip on Hollywood. When a handful of trans employees and sympathetic allies at Netflix announced a walkout over comedian Dave Chappelle’s jokes in his special “The Closer,” many expected the legendary stand-up to offer some sort of conciliatory statement, if not an outright admission of guilt. Something along the lines of Netflix CEO Ted Sarandos’ comments that he “screwed up” by not acknowledging the “pain” trans viewers felt over the jokes would certainly have been the norm.

Instead, Chappelle doubled-down by immediately booking a new comedy tour with fellow iconoclast Joe Rogan and adding new bits to his latest set that further taunted the trans activists for their failed attempts to silence him. The five-time Emmy winner’s actions may have even emboldened Sarandos. Less than two months after Chappelle belligerently asked “am I cancelled or not,” Netflix included him on a new company-branded comedy tour.

Despite numerous attacks over the last year that included doxing her by revealing her home address on Twitter, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling, too, shows

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