Now, It Can Be Told! ‘Comeback’ Star Slams Cancel Culture
Lisa Kudrow's plea for free comedy is better late than never (but it's close)
Cancel Culture ran wild for years, and the people who could have ended it sat on their hands.
The wrong joke, opinion or hot take stopped a thriving career cold.
Some lost a gig they had dreamed about for ages. Others got blocked from joining the ultimate sketch comedy program. Others simply kept certain jokes to themselves, knowing the consequences could be severe if the wrong person got offended.
Countless others suffered in silence, without the notoriety or money to fight back. And, by and large, Hollywood artists stood down.
Had some A-listers taken a stand against the woke police, chances are the cultural scourge might have died from natural causes. Instead, it ran roughshod over Western society.
Yes, there were exceptions. John Cleese. Bill Maher. Rob Schneider. Joe Rogan.
They spoke out, loudly, against speech restrictions and their impact on the culture.
Joe Rogan & Derek, More Plates More Dates on the current state of comedy movies:
ROGAN: “Tropic Thunder was the last great comedy before WOKE. It essentially ruined greatest comedies because you couldn’t go too far after that. Robert Downey Jr. literally did blackface.” pic.twitter.com/BZWmA7KdRC
— Joe Rogan Recaps (@JoeRoganRecaps) December 9, 2025
John Cleese Eviscerates BBC For Being “Cowardly” About Offending “The Extremely Woke” https://t.co/ljUkdpAraJ
— Deadline (@DEADLINE) September 10, 2025
Others buckled when the mob came for them, missing a chance to smite the scolds and defend speech. Think Stephen King and Scarlett Johansson.
Now, a few voices are speaking out against the woke police. Take former Amazon Studios head Roy Price. He penned a powerful op-ed in The New York Times last month, blasting Hollywood for bowing to the woke mob. And, in turn, telling less dynamic stories along the way.
It’s Lisa Kudrow’s turn to take a swipe at the battered woke piñata.
The “Friends” alum is currently starring in “The Comeback,” the HBO Max series that took 11 years off before returning for its third and final season. This time, she’s pinning her comeback on an A.I.-generated TV series.
Kudrow addressed the current state of TV sitcoms with the far-Left Variety and shared this noteworthy take.
“I wish they were evolving. ‘30 Rock’ and ‘Seinfeld’ and ‘Friends’ were really funny and really well written. But I’m not drawn to new sitcoms that are multi-camera in front of an audience because I’m not buying it. I don’t know if that’s just because I’ve seen too many single-camera sitcoms—I think we need to get back to being able to tell jokes. I feel like we’ve been too afraid to make jokes that might make people uncomfortable…”
“But the really good ones, they’re not tame jokes. They’re jokes that are kind of, ‘I can’t believe you just said that.’ Comedy is about surprise. You need things you didn’t see coming.”
She’s right, and she inadvertently described why late-night TV and “Saturday Night Live” have lost their way. We know the satirical targets in play and what stories won’t be touched by those programs.
There’s little sense of surprise in any Stephen Colbert monologue. Just read HuffPo and attempt to turn its breaking news items into tepidly amusing gags.
The biggest question around “Jimmy Kimmel Live!” is when the host will summon some tears over President Trump’s latest “outrage.”
Kudrow became a star thanks to “Friends,” a show that’s been blasted by the Cancel Culture Kids as too white and problematic. She never defended the show through it all.
Now, she’s suggesting people who want to enforce speech codes for comedy have the wrong idea.
Better extremely late than never.