In a stunt that has succeeded in generating plenty of Internet controversy—and therefore publicity—for his upcoming album, Mariah Carey’s assistant Nick Cannon has posted a photo of himself in stupidface to Instagram. The host of America’s Got Talent and chief advocate of Nick Cannon’s Got Talent donned stupid makeup and stupid clothes to introduce his alter ego, “Connor Smallnut,” a stereotypically stupid person, of the sort who would be excited for a Nick Cannon album.
In the caption promoting that album, White People Party Music, Cannon included hashtags—the common lingo of the stupid person—shouting out numerous other things that stupid people enjoy, such as fist pumping and referencing Chappelle’s Show skits from a decade ago.
It's official… I'm White!!! #WHITEPEOPLEPARTYMUSIC #Wppm in stores April 1st!!!!!!Dude Go Get It!!!Join The Party!!!! #GoodCredit #DogKissing #BeerPong #FarmersMarkets #FistPumping #CreamCheeseEating #RacialDraft "Bro I got drafted!!"
Fortunately for Cannon, some on the Internet were rankled by Cannon’s stupidface experiment. Condemnations were written, hundreds of tweets were tweeted asking why Cannon is allowed to dress in stupidface but Julianne Hough isn’t, and Cannon himself was forced to spend much of the day on the defensive—likening himself to Robert Downey Jr.’s stupid actor character in Tropic Thunder, for example, or demonstrating solidarity with the stupid by retweeting people who use the word “butthurt.”
Nevertheless, the debate continues over whether “stupidface” is ever acceptable, regardless of who wears it, or whether it’s something that should only be attempted by entertainers—for example, Eddie Murphy or the Wayans brothers—instead of, say, Nick Cannon. Meanwhile, Cannon has rebutted, “It's funny how people take themselves so seriously. People love drama! We feed off of it. Just relax and have fun!!”, clearly remaining committed to the minstrelsy of stupid.