Jon Lovitz speaks out against Hollywood cancel culture: 'No different than McCarthyism'

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Former "Saturday Night Live" cast member Jon Lovitz is speaking out about cancel culture. 

The star joined the myriad of comedians talking about the current state of the genre now that comics face potential cancellation over past or present material. He even went as far as to compare it to the Red Scare, which saw many in Hollywood get blacklisted in the 1940s. 

"I’ll just say it, it’s no different than McCarthyism," the 63-year-old told Page Six in a recent interview. 

Lovitz told the outlet that it’s his job to "satirize what’s going on in society and point out the hypocrisies." He believes that cancel culture’s recent prevalence has made it difficult for both him and other comedians to do their jobs as well as they used to be able to. 

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Jon Lovitz spoke out against cancel culture. (OGUT/Star Max/GC Images)

"As soon as you say to a comedian like me, ‘You can’t say that,’ the first thing in my head is, ‘Oh, and now I have to,'" he explained.  

He added that there is a difference between simply making a joke about something sensitive and "being outright mean." 

"If you don’t have the ability to laugh at yourself, don’t go to a comedy club," Lovitz cautioned. "I’m not changing my act. If you’re watching TV and you don’t like the show, change the channel. It’s very simple."

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While the actor’s comments about comedy were vague, he used the July 2020 Los Angeles Times article in which "Goldbergs" actor Bryan Callen was accused by multiple women of sexual misconduct as an example.

"He should not be canceled. It’s horrible," Lovitz said of Callen. "I remember reading the article and thought it was ridiculous. One girl said she was 24 and he was 42. She was his girlfriend for three years and she says, ‘I’m 32 now, he should have known better.’ Known what better? You’re 24 to 27, you’re not a kid. What did he do? He had a girlfriend who was younger? So? I like women that are younger, not illegal, most guys do."

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Four women accused Callen of sexually inappropriate behavior including rape, forcing a kiss on a woman in an American Apparel, having an affair with a younger woman and attempting to exchange stage time and money for sexual favors. Callen has vehemently denied all the allegations. 

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"When someone does something really horrible, raping someone, of course, you should be in prison, obviously, but stuff like a girl is on a bad date or the relationship ends and she’s mad that it ended because she got dumped, come on!" Lovitz added.