Why Did Twitter ‘Cancel’ ‘Star Wars’ Actor Adam Driver?
Adam Driver is an actor, family man, and former member of the military. Social media recently tried to cancel the Star Wars star. Find out why.
Adam Driver joined the Marines after Sept. 11
In 2019, Driver discussed his joining the Marines with The New Yorker. His desire to join the armed forces came after feeling a desire for retribution as a result of the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. In his interview, he discussed not knowing who he was seeking revenge from. “It wasn’t against Muslims,” Driver explained. “It was: We were attacked. I want to fight for my country against whoever that is.”
He was medically discharged from the military due to a mountain biking incident that dislocated his sternum. After he was discharged, Driver enrolled in the Juilliard School, where he met his future wife, Joanne Tucker. Together, they started Arts in the Armed Forces, a nonprofit organization that makes arts programming free and readily available to active-duty military, veterans, and their families.
Twitter tried to ‘cancel’ Adam Driver for enlisting in the Marines
The world of social media can be vicious sometimes. Celebrities like Taylor Swift, Kim Kardashian West, and now Driver have been “cancelled” on Twitter at some time or another. Twitter users tried desperately to cancel Driver for enlisting in the military after 9/11 to serve in the Afghanistan War, misconstruing his reasons for wanting to fight.
Many people assumed Driver was motivated by a dislike for Muslims, which ultimately lead to the #AdamDriverIsOverParty. Several people tweeted about their dislike for the actor, while other Twitter users were confused by the outrage. “This is twice that I’ve seen random cancel parties happening on Twitter with people REACHING for reasons,” one Twitter user wrote. “Quarantine got them so bored to create [the] #AdamDriverIsOverParty.”
In reality, Driver explained to The New Yorker his motivations for joining the Marines were rooted in the desire to challenge himself. As the most disciplined branch of the military, Driver was willing to accept the difficult task.
A ‘Mayans MC’ star defended Adam Driver
Though many Star Wars fans stepped in to defend Driver on Twitter, no one had quite as much of an impact as Vincent Vargas, who stars in the FX series Mayans MC. Vargas served for three tours in Iraq and Afghanistan between 2003 and 2007.
“I think right now, people are completely polarized and completely divided on opinions on everything in the world,” Vargas explained to MEAWW regarding the outrage surrounding Driver. “I believe they took Adam Driver’s quotes on what he talked about, why he wanted to serve our country, and turned it against him as if he [were] an Islamophobe.”
Vargas expressed the unfairness in people’s reactions to Driver’s service. “I just didn’t think it was fair to someone who [served] our country, someone who decided to join for whatever reasons that might be and then to turn around and try and damage his career because of unpopular opinions of other people,” he added. “It’s a small demographic of individuals that use social media to essentially bully someone on their own opinion.”
Thanks to his fellow actors and military members, Driver’s being canceled online seems to have passed.
