Ash Williams had wings clipped by cancel culture after court case

Comedian Ash Williams was flying high in showbiz when an “inconsistent” accuser cut him down via vicious cancel culture.

Comedian Ash Williams has his wings clipped by cancel culture. Picture: Mark Stewart

What happens when you wake up to find yourself cancelled? What does it mean? What next?

We are smack-bang in the age of cancel culture, a form of ostracism where someone is thrust out of social or professional circles, or suffers a mass withdrawal of support.

The sinner must retreat from the spotlight, hibernating in social purgatory before coming out full of trite remorse to tell their story amid self-flagellation and sorrow before making a remarkable comeback.

Shucks, Page 13 has written about many of them: Wayne Carey, George Calombaris, Brian Lake, Garry Lyon. The list goes on. What can we say, they make a good yarn.

But what about those who were unfairly and inappropriately cancelled? Can they, too, make a tearful comeback? They should and comedian Ash Williams certainly and rightly hopes so.

After spending more than a decade on the grind and hustle to get to the top of the showbiz and media world, Williams had finally found his big break.

Cast as the “funny guy” in Ten’s reality adventure series, I’m A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here, Williams knew he could make headlines and get the public talking about him.

Ash Williams thought his stint on I’m A Celebrity would help build his profile.

He just didn’t think it would be over unexpectedly, and what he said from the start, unwarranted charges, laid against him by NSW police for “taking an intimate image of a woman without her consent” and only six days after exiting the series jungle.

That woman, notably, was his then girlfriend.

Fast forward to last Friday when the case was dismissed by a NSW female magistrate, who deemed his female accuser’s evidence as “inconsistent.”

Over and out. Williams had done nothing wrong in the eyes of the law.

But too little too late?

Not one to shy away from sexual exploits (nipple licking anyone?) Williams is more than open about how the pictures were taken.

Holed up in quarantine and a little, er, restless he and his long-time girlfriend at the time were engaging in a spot of consensual FaceTime sex.

This he says was normal practice between the two lovers. They had a strong sexual connection and his girlfriend, who owns an explicit OnlyFans page, told him they should shoot a porno when her Tarzan came out of the jungle.

You get the drift. So he thought nothing about later sending her a screenshot of their grappling commenting how hot she looked. What happened next he didn’t expect.

“I sent her the photos because she was always wanting photos,” Williams says.

“I said I took them the other night, you are going to love them, I sent them to her.

“Then she has just gone BOOM. She was trying to get me to admit that I was taking secret photos. But I said if they were secret why would I send them to you?

After the headlines about his court case, work offers dried up for Williams and he moved back in with his mum. Picture: Mark Stewart

“She went really dark, her voice changed and she said I’m going to make you pay, you’re f---ing going down.”

Broken hearted, rattled and somewhat stressed, Williams said he told producers he might not be in his best shape after just breaking up with the girl he thought he would be having kids with.

Their reply was: “Great you can be the funny guy and the single guy.”

After police laid charges and the headlines screamed, the phone calls immediately stopped. Gigs to do spots on TV panels, like Have You Paying Attention? suddenly didn’t need him.

The momentum had faded. Williams was cancelled.

The 16 months that have followed saw Williams move back to Melbourne to live with his mum and retreat from social media and news in general, only tuning in to SBS food shows for some escapism, personal favourite Rick Stein.

His only outings were walking and more walking with one of the few people who stuck by him, good mate Chrissie Swan.

They pounded the pavement around Bayside.

“I’m someone who likes to fly,” says Williams.

“I don’t like to play it safe. I like to live my life. I’ve had my wings majorly clipped through unfounded claims by a deliberate and manipulative action. It’s devastated me and my family, especially my Mum. We all hope this appalling chapter of my life is now over and we can all fly again,” he said