Candace Owens (L) Noah Cyrus (R)
© REUTERS / Benoit Tessier; REUTERS / Danny MoloshokCandace Owens (L) Noah Cyrus (R)
The white singer has given a half-hearted apology for a racially charged barb about the black conservative commentator, something that would end a career if their politics were reversed. Enough excusing racism from liberals.

Noah Cyrus, a Grammy-nominated musician better known as the younger sister of superstar Miley, targeted author and conservative commentator Owens over her recent comments criticizing a Vogue photoshoot featuring One Direction singer Harry Styles in a dress.

"He wears this dress better than any of u nappy a** heauxz," she wrote beneath a photo of Styles in said dress on her Instagram story.

Cyrus's words drew the ire of mostly conservatives, after her use of the racially charged term was highlighted by author Rob Smith on Twitter.

"There truly is no racist like a White Liberal racist," Smith tweeted.


"Any one of woke liberals care to explain to me how @noahcyrus calling me a 'nappy a** hoe' is not racist?" Owens herself tweeted about Cyrus's comment. "I'm all ears. You guys love cancel culture. @MileyCyrus come get your sister!"


Cyrus did eventually apologize, although she refused to mention Owens by name and claimed to be unaware of the fact that using the term "nappy" to describe a person of color is offensive.

"I am mortified that I used a term without knowing the context and history, but I know now and I am horrified and truly sorry," she wrote on Instagram, according to online newspaper TMZ. "I will never use it again. Thank you for educating me. I in no way meant to offend anyone. I am so sorry."

Let's just pretend for a moment we are dumb enough to believe Cyrus's faux ignorance in this situation. Even in that scenario, her apology is still half-hearted, showing zero respect for the woman she's actually used racist language about.

It was a ludicrous attempt to quell further potential blowback, but, fortunately for her, the ill-conceived barb generated almost no controversy. The mainstream media has been silent. The talking heads are silent. Nobody is distancing themselves from her. Cancel culture is staying far away. And why? For the simple fact she is a liberal defending a man in a dress, and Candace Owens is a mean old conservative (which obviously trumps considerations of skin color).

There is a tolerance for racist language from the left and that becomes more enraging when you take into account the double standard for those deemed 'conservative' or, more to the point, 'not liberal' by the culture.

Roseanne Barr lost the hit series she created after she made a questionable joke about Barack Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett. She apologized numerous times, but was deemed racist, so lost her job and all rights to her creation. She now works independently through her YouTube channel, and her series continues without her, and under a new name.

If Barr's bad joke was enough to get her canceled, in what just world is someone such as Cyrus, whose comment is arguably much worse, given a free pass?

The truth is that liberals have the golden ticket. They hitch themselves to a narrative where they are on the right side of every social issue, so they can simply say and do whatever they please, with the peace of mind that the media and social justice advocates will quickly forgive and forget, as long as they target the right people.

That's why it's perfectly fine for a white comedian such as Chelsea Handler to talk about reminding 50 Cent of his skin color after the black rapper joked about supporting Trump over taxes. It's A-OK for Bette Midler to accuse black Trump supporters of being paid without losing her Hollywood gigs. While Barr makes a living through independent videos, Handler signs major deals with streaming platforms like Netflix, and Midler is currently gearing up for a 'Hocus Pocus' sequel.

Politicians such as Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam (D) can even don blackface and keep moving forward with their political careers without a whiff of controversy from the media or the supposedly woke left.

As for Cyrus, the late shock-jock radio host Don Imus found himself briefly silenced and his show canceled when he used the same terms as the singer to describe a women's basketball team. That was back in 2007, however, and the rules were different then. Today, cancel culture is claimed by the left as a retaliatory tool against hatred, but it's really just a weaponized way to control the culture and discredit the voices of anyone seen as being on the wrong side of the political aisle.

If Cyrus can throw out a half-hearted, barely believable apology for lambasting Owen's views by targeting both her gender and her skin color, shouldn't everyone be held to that low standard? Or perhaps the better solution is a world where liberals like her are not given a free pass, and are expected to uphold the same standards as everyone else.
Zachary Leeman is the author of the novel Nigh and journalist who covers art and culture. He has previously written for outlets such as Breitbart, LifeZette, and BizPac Review among others. Follow him on Twitter @WritingLeeman