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Just because someone is famous, talented in any discipline, like an artist or a sports celebrity, does not mean any of their pronouncements (should they make any) are worth a hill of beans. On the other hand, any character defects they have should not influence our opinion as their performance. Or maybe they should.

A rapper got shot down and killed recently, in Florida I believe. It might have been a tragedy, except the guy was pretty much worthless as a human being. One might consider his death a boon to civilization. Or maybe I just feel that way because I don't care a fig for rap music.

I tried to figure out if I had any object reasons for disliking rap, and while I can come up with a few (words are spoken instead of sung, spoken so fast in an obscure dialect as to make them incomprehensible, lyrics that are rude, crude, insulting and defamatory), you could probably make the same argument about at least some songs in my favorite genre: classic rock. Our parents (i.e. the old folks) probably felt the same way. So maybe rap isn't objectively worse, maybe I don't like it just because it's different. (No, that's not it. Most rap is shit.)

Burl Ives was an icon when I was a kid, but somewhere along the way I got the idea he was a pervert (a pedophile?), and so I would turn him off if he ever came on the radio. I ain't listening to no preverts. But now I go looking for evidence of his crimes against humanity and I'm finding nothing. Maybe it was some other musical icon. Or maybe my memory is being rewritten by aliens. In any case, it happened so long ago, and no one has reminded me of it that I've let my opposition slide and I no longer change the station when he comes on.

Tom Cruise is another celebrity that people like to hate, and I can understand that. If you look at some of his activities outside of acting, he does appear to be a lunatic. But he is good actor and I generally enjoy his films. Also, being crazy, all by itself, is generally not considered a crime. Now if his brand of crazy sent him on a mass-murder spree, that would be a different kettle of fish, and it would make admiring him as a good actor a little more difficult.