First, a disclaimer:

I’m going to talk about two famous writer people: Stephen King and Don Winslow. I don’t know either of them personally but have had the opportunity to interact with them directly, and find them both to be lovely, genuine people. And I like their books, too. But I’m still going to use them to illustrate a point here.

And a definition:

Merriam-Webster defines cancel culture here. Urban Dictionary has a more concise definition:

Now, on with the show…

On January 14, 2020, Stephen King tweeted this:

In the couple of hours between the second and third tweets, a tweetstorm erupted. People got—and many still are—mad. Some see the third and fourth tweets as making matters worse, not better. Some are calling for King to be cancelled.

My first reaction to these tweets was to think about what I know about SK. My own direct experience of him. The fact that he and Tabitha King have donated millions of dollars to causes I consider worthy (just a couple of examples here and here). The fact that he’s not afraid to raise his voice when we all need him to (like this).

So, no, I wasn’t—and am not—ready to cancel Stephen King.

As I read comments about the tweets from people I respect, I realized that this is a great illustration of the fact that none among us is perfect. We all can do better. Always. We all—even celebrities—can’t help but harbor attitudes that bear further consideration, and often adjustment. Only fools and dead men don’t change their minds, after all, and we can all learn.

Good or bad, Twitter has become a broadcast platform that’s hard to escape. Even if you don’t have an account, you know what it is and you’re subject to retellings of what happens there. I’m a fan of social media, but I find Twitter…frustrating. It’s frenetic. It’s so brief as to offer little or no consideration of pretty much anything. And it can be so very mean. But Hollywood types do love it.

Twitter also has a distinct lack of transparency. Many users see a little blue check mark next to a name and believe that everything from that account comes from the person whose name adorns it. This couldn’t be farther from the truth. Many—maybe even most—accounts that boast huge followings are, at best, managed by a person employed to do so. And this got me wondering… Did those tweets above actually come from Stephen King? Or were they written and posted by someone else? With or without his approval?

I want to be completely clear here: I don’t know the answers to the above questions. Everything that follows here is speculation. Based on factual knowledge, yes, and professional experience, but speculation nonetheless.

I’ve been following King on Twitter since he opened an account in December 2013. In recent months (could be a year…I didn’t note the date), his tweets have changed. They used to “feel” more authentic. He used to talk about Waffle House and a wide range of books. He used to respond to people who don’t have a bazillion followers. He tweets were less crafted or designed and more genuine.

More recently, there have been more stunt tweets coming from his account. His book endorsements center mostly on authors who are all represented by the same agent. He talks (far) more “inside baseball” Hollywood stuff.

How is the above a stunt? If Don Winslow and Stephen King wanted to donate to St. Jude’s Children’s Hospital, they would. But that wouldn’t generate nearly the same kind or quantity of headlines this tweetstunt did.

My take? At least some of King’s tweets are now coming from the same source as Don Winslow’s. They’re designed to generate a specific kind of (social) media coverage, and they do. But they’re not authentic. I don’t mean to say they’re dishonest or don’t reflect his opinions, but I don’t think they’re coming from him directly.

So where does this leave the diversity discussion when it comes to Stephen King? Ever optimistic, I think it creates an opportunity, one that was best explained by author Jessica Laine, who wondered what King is doing (and could do) to create pipelines for marginalized creators. That’s a discussion I’d love to see happen…pretty much anywhere other than Twitter.