Comedian warns 'woke is not dead' as cancel culture still looms over comedy
Tom Shillue warns that while comedians may be enjoying a brief reprieve, cancel culture and efforts to censor humor are far from over
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Comedy may be showing signs of breaking free from "wokeness," but cancel culture is far from over, Fox News contributor and comedian Tom Shillue warned Thursday.
"Woke is not dead," Shillue said during a New Year’s Day appearance on "Fox & Friends," cautioning that efforts to police humor and silence comedians are poised to resurface.
"They’re going to keep coming back with this," he noted.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Pointing to comedian Ricky Gervais, Shillue said even those seen as winning the cultural fight recognize it’s far from over.
Fox News contributor Tom Shillue hosted the 2025 edition of "The Great Christmas Showdown," available for streaming on Fox Nation. (Fox Nation)
Gervais, he noted, has argued that while free speech may have scored recent victories, "the war continues" as activists and platforms look for new ways to censor comedy. However, for now, Shillue said comedians may be in a relatively strong position.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Shillue said modern comedy isn’t about political alignment, but authenticity, even when comedians don’t share an audience’s views.
Ricky Gervais at the Golden Globes in 2023 (Paul Drinkwater/NBC via Getty Images)
Though Shillue identifies as right-wing, one of his favorite comedians is British comic Stuart Lee, who he described as "very left wing."
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{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Dave Chappelle performs onstage during the Dave Chappelle theatre dedication ceremony at Duke Ellington School of the Arts on June 20, 2022 in Washington, DC. (Shannon Finney/Getty Images)
"I'll go to see him any time because he's brilliant, and I don't have to agree with him," Shillue said. "I like to see people work."
Shillue applied the same standard to Dave Chappelle and pointed to comedian Matt Rife as an example of how the industry’s power structure has shifted.
Unlike past generations, Rife built his career online, bypassing traditional gatekeepers that once dictated who succeeded in comedy.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"This is a guy who came up on the internet, and it shows you these platforms – they used to be the tastemakers," he said. "They used to be the ones we were auditioning for – the gatekeepers."
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"You would have to go to the Montreal Comedy Festival. You would have to impress these people who work for these big studios or the TV networks or anything. Now, you go straight to the people."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}"Matt Rife never would have been invited to the party. He created his own, and that's what people are doing now," Shillue added.