Staff Reports
Gather ’round, folks, because once again, Halloween delivered a treat bag full of reasons for the perpetually offended crowd to faint on their fainting couches! The star of this year’s costume controversy was Lilly Gaddis, who bravely—or perhaps recklessly—donned blackface and streamed her show live on Twitter, generating almost 5 million views and 30 million impressions. The outrage machine revved up instantly, with critics self-righteously clamoring to “cancel” her yet again. It seems grievances to air are as endless as sequels in the Marvel film universe.
Last year, Gaddis landed in hot water for an irreverent TikTok cooking video. Apparently, attempting to be “cool” by using what she called a “ghetto slang” term just didn’t sit well with the legions of busybodies on the Internet. They dedicated endless energy to see her fired, doxed, and shamed into oblivion. Instead of retreating into the shadows, Gaddis turned controversy into currency, amassing over 160,000 YouTube subscribers. Looks like outrage is the secret sauce to her success.
The irony is that while folks are tying themselves in knots over Gaddis’s get-up, the same people can chuckle gleefully when black comedians don whiteface. Remember that Drewuski chap who dressed up as a stereotypical white hick at a NASCAR event? Oh, hilarity ensued, but nobody was lining up to cancel him. It’s pure comic gold for some, but when the shoe of satire is on the other foot, it’s suddenly scandalous. Hypocrisy, thy name is today’s outrage culture.
Meanwhile, Lilly’s detractors are seething in their seats, claiming there’s nothing funny or clever about her antics. Accusations of desperation for attention are lobbed with the fervor of a Kansas City Chiefs fan defending their quarterback. Critics brand her nothing more than a provocateur looking for clicks, but with over 100,000 views per episode, it seems she’s in on the joke—and having the last laugh. If only her critics could find their sense of humor amidst their sea of moral outrage.
Britney Venty, another YouTuber, jumped into the fray, sparking a similar storm by embracing blackface for Halloween. The kicker? She’s half-black herself, turning critics’ cries of racism into a delicious charade of misunderstanding. Watching self-righteous commentators scramble to save face (no pun intended) when informed of her heritage is more entertaining than a clown car parade. Yet here we are, every Halloween playing the same predictable game of moral outrage whack-a-mole. It’s as if common sense took a holiday break, leaving the rest of us to enjoy the absurdity of modern-day double standards.
