John Malkovich Says Cancel Culture Brought on the Death of Comedy and a ‘Tidal Wave of Idiocy’

Actor John Malkovich is blaming the death of comedy on cancel culture fueled by the “tidal wave of idiocy” that thrives on social media.

“What’s funny yesterday becomes illegal today and the person uttering it must be canceled,” Malkovich said in an interview with the New York Daily News. “Outrage culture is as strong as it is toxic.”

John Malkovich said that outrage that festers on social media can lead to mob-like behavior.

“Part of what makes [comedy] difficult is also the tidal wave of idiocy that can be created on social media in a day … the outrage mob.”

Comedians who have lost jobs due to cancel culture include Roseanne Barr, Kevin Hart, Shane Gillis, and Ari Shaffir. When applied to comedy, cancel culture typically involves social justice warriors in the media using a comedian’s offensive jokes to whip up an online outrage mob with the ultimate goal of getting the comedian fired.

Malkovich stars in the new Netflix comedy series Space Force, which imagines an incompetently run military branch tasked with ensuring American dominance in space.

“It’s about the possibilities of an unlikely directive to achieve a goal,” he told the newspaper. “On a certain level, it’s about teamwork, a concept quite lost in this United States of America at present.”

Malkovich is the latest entertainment figure to speak out against cancel culture and the negative impact it has on the comedy genre. Comedy luminaries including Dave Chappelle, Matt Stone, Adam Carolla, and Eddie Murphy have all condemned cancel culture.

Though Malkovich is known primarily for his dramatic roles in movies such as Dangerous Liaisons, In the Line of Fire, and Empire of the Sun, he has also starred in numerous comedy films, including the Coen brothers’ Burn After Reading.

Watch below: ***Graphic Language***