Like many millennial children, Caleb LoSchiavo grew up loving the Harry Potter series.
But when Harry Potter author J.K. Rowlingouted herself as a TERFa trans-exclusive radical feminist, i.e.
and I was like, No, not really anymore.
I need to let go of that, LoSchiavo says.
and I was like, No …
I need to let go of that.
Do you keep supporting an artist you love, even if they transgressed?
Where do you draw the line?
Is there a way to separate art from artist?
We spoke to some folks whove gone through it to see what they had to say.
Discovering that theyre a bad person makes us realize we dont.
We end up grieving our perception of the artistsomeone we loved without really knowing them.
[I]t was quietly heartbreaking, Jeff writes.
Bryce Kelly, who runs the popular Percy Jackson read-a-long podcast Radio Camp Half-Blood, had a similar experience.
Kelly used to love PWR BTTM, a popular queercore duo that preached self-acceptance.
But when member Ben Hopkins wasaccusedof sexual assault and predatory behavior, Kelly quit listening to their music.
It hit me really personally, says Kelly, who uses the pronouns they/them.
Im a queer person, it meant a lot to me, what their music had to say.
For Kelly, once the allegations against Hopkins were made public, the art had no meaning.
I felt so much of what that music meant was diminished, they say.
What you decide to do with a problematic artist is up to you.
In Jeffs case, he was done with Adams for good.
But others might prefer to draw the line elsewhere.
Not everyone is able or willing to completely separate from the artist they love.
Like every clinically depressed teenager, I was really into The Smiths, she says.
He started to get very vocal about being anti-Muslim, anti-immigration, nativist.
He would openly sympathize with far-right figures like Tommy Robinson and Nigel Farage, Serota says.
That was line I couldnt cross.
I cant change the emotional connection I have to the songs I loved growing up, Serota says.
But I can change if I materially support him.
Kelly thinks that at the very least, not financially supporting a problematic artist is the right move.
Money is power in the world that we live in.
I dont want to hear from a music festival that theyre going to have Ben Hopkins.
[Full disclosure: I once guested on the podcast.]
I feel like it lets people off the hook.
In canceling someone, you sort of sweep the whole discourse under the rug without holding them accountable.
I feel like it lets people off the hook.
Hoff Kosik has been reckoning with this personally.
I lived and died by Harry Potter, Hoff Kosik says.
As a kid who always wanted to be an author, I wanted to be her.
She was my hero.
It is hard to consider giving up favorite movies, forgoing beloved books and skipping that song on Spotify.
But the people that artist abused or otherwise hurt are experiencing pain, too.
Its way more important to focus on the victims of that person, Kelly says.
They literally abuse people.
you might have missed while in the thralls of your canceled favorite.
Were invested in trying to save what we already love instead of looking beyond to whats out there.
We had to turn to wizards and werewolves for representation.
But, as LoSchiavo points out, times are different.
Children growing up today wont have to do that.
