my take on the whole situation with michael kovach and ashley nichols (as a black fan of tadc) is that i'm not shocked, nor do i believe he deserves to be "cancelled." i honestly expect most white people to have made a racist "joke" or two, which isn't me saying it's a good thing. also, i'm tired of seeing white tadc fans trying to tell black people how to feel on the matter; "it was years ago!! get over it!!" i don't think kovach is a racist or anything, he's just the average lame white guy who made a haha n-word funny "joke" and again, i'm not surprised at all. y'all like putting these people on pedestals and getting shocked when they do bad things, as if they're these ethereal beings who can't do any wrong. especially some random white dude in his 20s, i 100% expected this kind of behavior from him LMAO
michael and ashley both already apologized and there isn't much else that can be done. at the end of the day, they're two lame white people who do what every other lame white person does in their life; and that's make a "joke" with zero substance that is just "omg this word sounds like a racial slur... funny..." again i don't think either of them deserve to be cancelled or anything, but don't think that black people "have" to forgive these two simply because "oh they apologized, so it's okay!!" we're allowed to be upset because it's instances like these that make fandom spaces feel so unwelcoming for black people. we shouldn't have to constantly worry about creators being racist and ignorant. this is something white fans never have to worry about, and thus you have no idea what it feels like, and it's not something for you to speak on either. so no, i don't think black people "have" to forgive michael and ashley, and we have every right to be disappointed.