Conan O'Brien, Sean Penn discuss cancel culture calling it 'very Soviet' and 'ludicrous'

Conan O’Brien and Sean Penn opened up about cancel culture doing a sort of informal cost-benefit-analysis on what it means for actors telling the important stories of our time. 

O’Brien, who recently wrapped up his time as a late-night talk show host after almost three decades on two networks, had Penn on his podcast, "Conan O’Brien Needs a Friend," where the duo’s chat led them to discuss cancel culture and the public’s somewhat new tendency to write off potentially promising people over past comments. 

"I’ve always described myself, I think I’m a 52% optimist," O’Brien explained. "I do believe that everything that’s happened in the last year is going to inform us in the best way and is going to have a very valuable impact on the arts and is going to make things better and more inclusive. I believe in all that."