The Only Person Who Can Cancel Me Is You

Legacy media is crumbling. You get to build what’s next.

This week, two gut punches landed on the already-bruised face of the media landscape: The Late Show with Stephen Colbert has been quietly cancelled, and whispers now swirl that The Daily Show with Jon Stewart could be next. CBS calls it a budget move, but it’s pretty sus given that earlier, Paramount (which is CBS’s parent company) cut a $16 million check to Trump to settle a lawsuit over a 60 Minutes interview, in part to grease its way through an $8 billion merger with Skydance Media. Colbert, who’s built his career on skewering Republicans, had just called that payout a “big fat bribe” and now his show gets the axe…despite being the number one late-night show. And now, Stewart, another fearless Trump critic, is already preparing for the worst, quietly warning that Skydance’s takeover might not include him.

It would be easy to feel hopeless right now. To believe that the people who tell the truth with humor, who make sense of this upside-down world with wit and integrity, are slowly being phased out. To believe that the media we once relied on is vanishing. But I want to offer you another interpretation of this moment. This isn’t a funeral, it’s a birth. Because YOU are building something stronger.

When platforms disappear the most, that’s when we find each other even harder. When the lights turn off on the big stage, we gather in the smaller rooms, on alternative platforms like substack, and create our own networks that can’t be shut down. And unlike network executives, you won’t cancel me because I called a fascist a fascist. Or because I made a joke that hits too close to the truth. Or because I refused to platform genocidal propaganda in the name of "balance."

I don’t have to clear this essay with a legal department. There’s no corporate sponsor telling me what to say. There’s no ratings system shaping what stories I cover. There is only you. And that’s what makes this space, our space… so sacred.

And all of this comes at a time where just a few days ago, the Nelk Boys, a group of crypto-fueled frat bros who cosplay as journalists, invited Benjamin Netanyahu onto their podcast. Not only did they give a war criminal an uninterrupted platform, they let him hand them a pre-approved list of questions. And pretend like that was an interview. They literally joked about Burger King as children in Gaza are being starved to death.

This is the state of the male media ecosystem in 2025 and people like you are doing and funding something different. You’re building an alternative. You’re funding the truth. What we are doing here….this newsletter, our new podcast, this movement, isn’t just independent media. It’s resistance. It’s refuge. It’s a rebellion against the corporate and algorithmic forces that are rewarding everything that’s wrong with the world.

So while I know the headlines are getting darker, I don’t want you to sink into despair. I want you to learn into power.

This newsletter exists because of you. The only person who can cancel me is you, and I don’t think you will because I think you know we need each other now more than ever. So when you get sad or hopeless, remember that you’re not watching history unfold. You are shaping it! So let’s keep going. Let’s build something no one can cancel.

Also I wanted to tell you that I launched my Youtube channel to help with monetizing all the content I create for you! If you can’t subscribe to my substack, it would mean a lot if you followed me there. It’s free! And keep sending me your boy problems for our pod. The more specific and unhinged and goofy the better!! I love reading them :)

With love, rage, and a full-hearted independence,

-Liz