The movie Yesterday was a big deal. Imagine being the only guy who remembers the Beatles! Recalling something nobody else does can be magical. It’s a little less novel of an idea for female fans of Canadian comedy. We’re kind of used to feeling like we’re the only ones who remember things.

Miles Klee calls it an “amnesiac culture”, a socially-elective forgetting of wrongdoings by celebrity personalities that keeps them coming back to entertainment. I can see how this amnesia protects people in the audience: they get to keep loving the things they love. But it also protects predators: nobody cares what you did if your work still makes them feel good.

I heard about Mike Smith’s 2016 arrest for domestic battery the year I graduated high school, and I remember trying to broach the subject with my friends. The first challenge was explaining who he is: Smith enjoys one of the great protections of the entertainment industry, anonymity behind his character. He’s Bubbles from Trailer Park Boys! The next challenge was trying to get them to disconnect his character from his actions. He’s funny! He’s harmless! I think it’s interesting that people who pride themselves on separating art from artist have trouble disconnecting artists in this way.

I recall a Vice article from 2019, when their investigative team raised allegations from an 18 year-old who alleged she met Smith while underage in downtown Halifax. Police didn’t press charges when she told them he sexually assaulted her in her home, shaming her for underage drinking, even though Smith has allegations going back to 2005.

I was 21 in 2019, and I thought my friends would be just as repulsed as I was: another allegation for the Canadian icon should surely be the last straw. We all heard how the women on the show left on bad terms, that Corey and Trevor were bullied onset, treated like Corey and Trevor were on the show. But the people around me didn’t seem to hear me, and kept streaming Netflix’s new seasons of Trailer Park Boys: The Animated Series. Maybe they didn’t believe me, or her, or forgot as soon as I told them… If you’re the only one who remembers the Beatles, you can get a record deal. If you’re the only one who remembers the allegations, you can see how little people care about young women.