Louise O'Neill: 'Would I say that I believe in Cancel Culture? No'

When all of the sympathy is reserved for those being ‘cancelled’, how much is left over for the vulnerable people hurt by their actions?

Louise O'Neill: "I can only imagine how terrifying it must be at the eye of that storm". Picture: Miki Barlok

Sometimes, when I’m in the middle of an interview, I enter into what can only be characterised as a fugue state. Afterwards, I have no recollection of what I said. I beg my partner to listen back to the podcast or read the newspaper feature and tell me if I’ve said or done anything stupid that would torpedo my career. 

I am, I suppose, afraid of Twitter stirring awake, swallowing me and my reputation whole. I’ve seen it happen to other people — an Irish journalist who was attacked by a celebrity’s fans because they were upset by the headline of an opinion piece; the author of a novel about an abusive sexual relationship between a teacher and his student accused of plagiarising a memoir exploring similar themes. And I’ve read So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson, a non-fiction book which looks at how the concept of public shaming has re-emerged as an internet phenomenon.