Former KULR Lead Director Spoke on Cancel Culture, Board Power & Regulation — Then Was Removed One Month Later
On March 29, 2026, Dr. Joanna Massey appeared on Season 2, Episode 2 of the podcast Inside CVC, titled “Inside CVC: Joanna Massey on Board Governance in a Digital Age: AI, Trust, and Mass Incitement.” The episode focused on how boards should approach governance, risk, and accountability in an era shaped by AI and digital platforms.
During the discussion, she made several pointed comments about corporate culture, leadership decision-making, cancel culture, and regulation. One month later, on April 28, 2026, KULR announced major board changes via Written Consent that removed her along with three other directors.
Here are some of the notable excerpts from the episode:
On cancel culture vs council culture:
>“We’ve gotten so sucked into cancel culture over council culture, which I prefer… Say something, it upsets me or it offends me. Let me tell you and express that in a nice way. I don’t have to be mean about it. And then, you know, we can get on with it or have an understanding.”
On CEOs making major decisions without the board:
When discussing whether companies should publicly take sides on social or political issues, she said:
>“I do not think it’s a decision that the CEO and officers should make on their own. I absolutely think it’s something that you have to consult the board for because if you do it and it goes sideways on you and the board didn’t know, then there’s a liability issue there.”
On the need for friction and productive disagreement:
>“In order for a corporation to grow, we have to innovate. And in order for us to innovate, you have to have friction because necessity is the mother of invention. And so you have to disagree. You’ve got to have diversity in the room. You have to have differences in order to innovate.”
>“It is urgent that companies figure out how to get employees back to a place where they can disagree productively, disagree without being disagreeable.”
On DEI language and diversity of thought:
>“I definitely think there’s fear around the acronyms DEI and ESG. Absolutely. And I’ve been telling people for several months now, don’t use them. Don’t, you know, phrase it differently.”
>“Whether we say diversity, difference, whatever word it is you want to use, there have to be different experiences in the room in order to drive growth.”
On free speech, corporate control, and expanded regulation:
She made clear that private companies have wide authority to restrict employee speech:
>“The First Amendment says that we have free speech against the government, not against private companies. A private company is absolutely allowed to tell its employees how to speak with each other, how to behave at work.”
At the same time, she argued for significantly expanding government regulatory power over speech on public platforms:
>“So why has the FCC never been expanded to cover cable and podcasts and social media? We can do it. We absolutely can do it.”
>“And then when it comes to Section 230… I think it’s time that we changed it… let’s create a different framework for how to manage what we’re dealing with in terms of all of this hate speech and anger that’s going around.”
In other words, while she criticizes “cancel culture” inside companies and calls for more “council culture,” she also supports giving regulators like the FCC greater authority and changing liability laws such as Section 230 in order to exert more control over speech on social media and digital platforms.
Timeline:
- March 29, 2026 – Podcast released
- April 28, 2026 – Board changes announced (removal of Joanna Massey and others)
Was she already sensing what was coming? Did these public remarks play any role in what followed? Or is the timing simply coincidental?
