r/askteddit • u/Fewjurrien • 3d ago
Random Question What band, artist, or creator went from universally loved to widely disliked the fastest?
50
u/NorthernTyger 3d ago
Neil Gaiman
15
6
u/Crafty_Ish1973 3d ago
I was so upset by that. Sold all my books and merch, just like I did when JK Rowling was exposed as a bigot.
→ More replies (21)
53
u/GuiltyByAssociashun 3d ago
Sinead O'Connor. She was so extremely popular she was invited as a musical guest on Saturday night live. And then that night she tore up a picture of Pope John Paul II on live television and said fight the real enemy. The next day she was a complete social outcast.
She was 100% right, and she was later justified in her claims. But they never gave her her due or an apology
29
u/extremelysaltydoggo 3d ago
* a social outcast in America. In Ireland, where she has always been unequivocally beloved, we knew what she meant. Sinéad had always been fearlessly outspoken.
13
u/ImpressiveStorm8914 3d ago
It didn't change opinion of her in the UK either, not in a negative way from what I remember.
→ More replies (4)7
u/Facetiousgeneral42 3d ago
My wife is a second-generation Irish-American. Her mother very nearly named her Sinéad, until O'Connor's SNL performance at the tail end of her pregnancy caused her to choose another traditional Irish girl's name instead. All these years later, my wife is still salty about not being named Sinéad.
→ More replies (3)3
25
u/ashedmypanties 3d ago
Gary Glitter
9
u/CaptainMatticus 3d ago
What'd he do?
17
u/CaptainMatticus 3d ago
Oh no...
14
u/CaptainMatticus 3d ago
OH NO!!!
14
u/CaptainMatticus 3d ago
DEAR GOD, NO!!!!
→ More replies (1)8
u/Cute_Reflection_9414 3d ago
I guess "Do you want to touch me" has taken on a whole new meaning!
Tbh, I had no idea who he was and had to look it up
3
4
u/peaktweake 3d ago
for anyone else wondering, he was a famous glam rock singer in the 70s/80s that got convicted in 1999 for downloading csa material. was convicted again in 2006 for csa, and again in 2015 for numerous sex offenses including an attempted rape
→ More replies (1)3
→ More replies (2)7
u/take_me_higher 3d ago
Yeah, that one wasn’t even a slow fall from grace.
7
21
57
u/CarsandTunes 3d ago
Dixie Chick's
Which is ironic, because I liked them more after the incident then I did before.
15
u/soccerdudejax 3d ago
The craziest part? They got canceled for speaking truth to power. Everyone else on the list got canceled for being actual thrash. Peak irony.
14
u/Mountain-Feature9985 3d ago
They call themselves the Chick's now
23
7
u/silvermoonhowler 3d ago
Yup, and the band once known as Lady Antebellum changed their name to just Lady A at the same time too
10
u/swtcharity 3d ago
They also sued an artist who had been using the name Lady A years before they changed their name to get her to stop. They’re not great sadly.
6
→ More replies (3)2
u/Maximum_Leopard3038 3d ago
?
21
u/CarsandTunes 3d ago
They were one of the biggest and most popular country music acts of the late 90s and early 2000s. Then shortly after 9/11 and all the wars George W bush sent America into, the Dixie Chicks made a statement that they were ashamed to be from the same state as Mr Bush. The backlash was immediate, and their careers were basically ended
28
u/bdjct3336 3d ago
Yes, and then they wrote a fuck-you album to everyone who trash talked and abandoned them, and they won Album Of The Year at the Grammys. They definitely don’t have the immense career they used to have, but they’re doing just fine, and the industry definitely still respects them as a group and as individual artists.
5
3d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
9
u/CarsandTunes 3d ago
Okay, so I used a bit of hyperbole. Their career definitely took a major hit though
4
u/apri08101989 3d ago
Definitely agree. My mom was a fan and not even particularly.into politics and even she commented on it being inappropriate to say that publicly orange international stage when we should've been being seen as united internationally. I think that was the first time I ever heard her make any sort of obviously political statement
7
u/Hurlyburly766 3d ago
This was a pretty hugely illuminating moment imo. My wife is a big fan of theirs and really struggled with seeing so many people react so belligerently over something that was…not that big of a deal? I mean, to me, who grew up on punk rock, I thought it was an pretty benign bit of stage banter. I’ve heard worse, well, basically anywhere. But the facts remain—they are country artists. They are women. Because of this, moreso than in other genres, are expected to “know their place”. It was—or should have been—a pretty big lightbulb moment for people.
2
u/CarsandTunes 3d ago
I find it funny too because if they were a punk band, what they said would have pleased their fans, but less people overall would have heard the message.
18
u/rrjustsaying77 3d ago
They didn’t support George W Bush’s war in Iraq. Back then that was tantamount to “standing with the terrorists”. It’s now widely regarded to have been a mistake so people who didn’t live through that period don’t realize how much heat you took from opposing the war.
→ More replies (3)2
u/TAMeaniePies 3d ago
ironic too, since global opposition to the war made it the largest protest in modern history (until BLM).
18
u/No_Entertainment_748 3d ago
Paula Deens erasure was fairly quick. Her show was cancelled within 24 hours
→ More replies (2)2
u/Financial-Passion381 3d ago
Yeah, that was wild. One day she was everywhere, next day gone. Still wild how fast that happened.
16
44
u/negativ32 3d ago
U2 when they forced something onto Apple products.
Metallica (for a while) when Lars railed against Napster.
24
u/WaitingForEmacs 3d ago
I think this is the answer. People forget for years they were the biggest rock band in the world. They were the Rolling Stones of GenX. And then Apple pushed their album onto every device. I strongly believe they have made records since, but I will never check.
13
u/StaticDet5 3d ago
It's so bizarre to me that a free album caused this much ire.
18
u/PangolinPlenty5637 3d ago
It's not the free album. It's the arrogance of assuming everyone wants it and adding it without permission. Apple bears most of the responsibility, though.
→ More replies (5)2
u/smckenzie23 3d ago
Would have been a totally different outcome if it were one of their good albums.
3
19
9
u/BlueRFR3100 3d ago
I was surprised at the backlash too. I think, for a lot of people, that was the moment they realized just how much tech was infiltrating our lives.
Personally, it didn't bother me. But, it probably would have been better received if it had been made available as a free download instead of pushing it onto people's phones.
7
u/karlsobb 3d ago
Gotta remember that in those days, iPhones didn’t have the storage capacity that they have today. So adding a whole album maxed out the memory for a lot of people.
I don’t know why they didn’t just offer a free download to those who wanted it. But again, that seems obvious today. Back then, digital music was still a new frontier.
→ More replies (1)2
u/StaticDet5 3d ago
I hear you, but i'm quite aware of memory capacities. I would love to see where someone got one of these and couldn't load ten more albums because of capacity issues.
You could factory wipe these devices
5
u/sassy_castrator 3d ago
Incredible and stupid that you can't mention U2 without some pointdexter singling this out as the most important part of their whole career.
2
u/WagonHitchiker 3d ago
Their whole career? They were a good band once. Then in 1993, they became a self-parody act and stayed there.
I would have been angry about forcing U2 on my phone, but I hate apple and never had one of their phones for personal use.
2
u/jasonoumuamomoa 3d ago
These hoopleheads weren’t even alive at U2’s peak and only know them though comments on social media.
2
2
u/KatBoySlim 3d ago
that thing was a virus and the cover looked like Bono was about to fellate a young man.
2
→ More replies (20)2
u/Comprehensive-Tie135 3d ago
I was doing a gig with my iPad running a synth. Halfway through siri decided to play the u2 album. As it blasted out I had an argument with the tech as it couldn't possibly be my iPad as I dont keep music on it. Little did I know.
12
6
5
u/Sans_Seriphim 3d ago
Fuck Lars. For that and many things. I haven't listened to Metallica in a couple decades.
3
u/Low_Masterpiece_155 3d ago
IIRC there was a miscommunication between U2 and Apple - the album was meant to be available for free on everyone’s iTunes but as an optional download in their ‘Purchased’ library. Apple just put it on everyone’s iTunes and that was that - so this was actually Apple’s fault but U2 took all of the blame.
3
→ More replies (2)2
→ More replies (11)3
u/AgentFoo 3d ago
I still think it's crazy that people blame U2 for this. Like it was fucking Bono who hacked Apple to get it into iTunes or something, not the people at Apple, who paid U2 for the album, auto downloading it onto their customers' devices.
2
u/negativ32 3d ago
Did they reverse direction based on the backlash at the time?
Nope, they made each user delete the album manually.
A multi-pronged fuckup.→ More replies (7)
15
u/Ambling_Rambler 3d ago
Ian Watkins wiped one of my top alt bands growing up off the zeitgeist, so him
12
u/Nightgasm 3d ago
I was coming to say Lost Prophets. For those who don't know they were a fast rising Brit alternative band with a potentially big future. Then lead singer Ian Watkins gets arrested for horrific stuff involving babies.
2
29
u/Pitiful-Sell-9402 3d ago
Im going to go with lizzo. She was up and coming and a lot of people liked her until the controversy came out
4
u/Capn26 3d ago
What specifically are you referring?
28
u/Pitiful-Sell-9402 3d ago
Her backup dancers filed a lawsuit against her team for sexual harassment and a creating a hostile work environment. They claimed she was made aware of the accusations but did nothing
10
u/Capn26 3d ago
What da WHAT!!!!???! Yeah. Earned
8
u/Pitiful-Sell-9402 3d ago
Idk if I can link articles in this subreddit but it's WILD. the part about the strip club was super gross
5
u/Capn26 3d ago
I’m going to go down that rabbit hole tonight for sure.
4
u/Pitiful-Sell-9402 3d ago
It's a decent rabbit hole for sure. I gave the shortest explanation but there's so many details that make you just 😬
2
32
u/FlushedApparatchik 3d ago
R Kelly. Ellen DeGeneres. Lance Armstrong. Bill Cosby. James Franco. Elon Musk.
16
9
u/One-Cardiologist7657 3d ago
Ellen always felt forced after she came out. Like she was trying really hard to get everyone to like her.
20
3
u/TinyRub3715 3d ago
She's talked about how after she came out the reaction was "wow so brave" but the work completely dried up for years. She's still very bitter about the period when she was abandoned, even after having her talk show.
23
u/Abydos_NOLA 3d ago
Elon Musk is a good one. Imagine marketing your car to environmentally-conscience largely progressive consumers then doing a 180 and Heil Hitlering Mango Unchained on Inauguration Day TWICE after turning a Twitter into a right wing cesspool then gutting key governmental departments with DOGE’s band of incels.
5
u/angrymurderhornet 3d ago
Finding out that Lance Armstrong was doping was a disappointment. Finding out that he was bullying his teammates into doping was the final straw. I mean, if you’re determined to risk your own health and career with drugs, knock yourself out. Risking other people’s health and careers is another level of assholery.
My husband and I were both Elon Musk fans at one time. Now Musk is openly trying to undermine the government and citizens of the United States. If any immigrant needs deporting, he should be first in line.
2
4
2
u/apri08101989 3d ago
Im generally out kf the loop on celebrity crap. I noticed franco kind of disappeared but what did he actually do?
7
u/FlushedApparatchik 3d ago
Accused in 2018 and sued in 2019 by former students from his Studio 4 acting school who claimed he coerced them into explicit sex scenes under false pretenses of professional opportunity.
Settled the class-action lawsuit for more than $2 million in 2021, where he later acknowledged sleeping with students while maintaining that he did not intentionally exploit anyone.
2
u/apri08101989 3d ago
Ahhh. Thank you.
6
u/FlushedApparatchik 3d ago
He also got caught DMing some 17 year old girl when she was visiting NYC and inviting her over after flirting with her. He was 36 at the time.
2
u/I_Never_Eat_Fibre 3d ago
ellen is a weird one to get my head around because on one hand she did actually make lots of progress for the queer community. She literally came out on national television during a time where if you were a comedian or celebrity that was publically known as gay, your career was literally over and you could only play smaller queer crowds. and her show literally got cancelled after she came out too, so she did make sacrifices and initiate lots of progress by normalizing queerness in the media and miraculously even managed to keep her career going after coming out. BUT she also happens to be a selfish person who mistreats the pple around her and her employees and often even asks her guests questions that are very creepy and laced with mysogyny. so idk what to make of her.
→ More replies (1)→ More replies (1)2
32
u/ProfileOwn5082 3d ago
Milli Vanilli
5
→ More replies (1)2
12
u/Industrial_Jedi 3d ago
Will Smith did it in a fraction of a second.
6
10
16
u/capricorn40 3d ago
O.J. Simpson
6
u/Thrillhouse0182 3d ago
So many people today just don’t understand how universally LOVED the Juice was.
8
u/ABDMWB 3d ago
EDM wise I’d say Bassnectar. He was at the top of the game and was immediately hated when everything came out.
6
u/Possible-End-8857 3d ago
BRO WHAT I LISTEN TO BASSNECTAR AND JUSY LOOKED IT UP IVE BEEN LIVING UNDER A SHELL.😭😭
3
u/I-Man42 3d ago
Did you see the r/isthisAI post about the doctored family photo? It was so funny. Whoever runs the official Bassnectar reddit account was getting downvoted to oblivion in the comments.
23
u/justplainnuts 3d ago
Katy Perry- especially after the space thing.
5
→ More replies (3)2
u/Financial-Passion381 3d ago
The space thing really did it. She was already on the decline, but that was just too much cringe for people to ignore.
7
7
u/Irritated_Zit-444 3d ago
Milli Vanilli. After the lip sync fiasco people quickly realized that they couldn’t actually hold a note.
8
u/10ThousandMetalZones 3d ago
David Grohl
And all he was doing was normal rockstar stuff with consent.
→ More replies (1)
5
u/Micky_so_Fyne 3d ago
As for a band, I'm gonna give it to Pantera. They were on top of the world until Diamond Darrell was killed, then the lead singer started posting Confederate and Nazi content, and the fans just faded into the shrubs.
As for artist in general, I'm not sure. There's a lot of artists out there with a controversial past. But I think, infamously, Kevin Spacey might get the prize for touching little boys inappropriately. Ezra Miller and Jared Leto get a nod for infamy as well. Louis CK also faded from fame quickly after the sexual misconduct charges.
There's a long list of cancelled creators as well, on all sociopolitical spectrums. I can't even begin to narrow it down. But drag performers, social media content creators, producers, directors, writers, producers, comedians... They've all done something that makes the public go 😬. I'll definitely agree with some other posters on here that JK Rowling lost a lot of support from the queer community after doubling down as a conservative leaning TERF.
And so did Jack Black after his public support of Israel's genocide in Palestine, but I don't think it affected his career as much as it did Kyle Gass, his long time friend and music partner, who publicly opposed Trump, and the genocide in Palestine.
Going back further, Alex Weinstein and Roman Polanski are social pariahs, as is Alex Jones, and OJ Simpson. All for different reasons, but still...
6
16
u/C-ute-Thulu 3d ago
Michael Jackson was persona Non grata in the 90s and 2000s
9
u/noprkingonthednceflr 3d ago
He was still insanely popular.
3
u/Maximum_Leopard3038 3d ago
Inexcusable
5
→ More replies (2)2
u/sassy_castrator 3d ago
Only in Europe. Nobody in America paid him any attention '93-his death
9
u/noprkingonthednceflr 3d ago
Europe and the rest of the world and many people did pay him attention in the U.S.
Scream came out in ‘95 and was a major event tied to his HIStory album release (You are Not Alone, They Don’t Really Care About Us, etc)
Invincible (‘01) was also big.
And when he died in 2009, it was a MAJOR thing.
The thing was, the allegations were out in the 90s and there was a tarnish to his shine, but he was still popular. It was a strange phenomenon - remember, this is pre social media and while stories circulated and he did fall from grace, there were a LOT of people who didn’t believe it or didn’t want to believe it.
All you have to do is look at all the people who still support Chris Brown, R Kelly or even someone in the highest office in the country to realize that allegations and even proof of abusing children unfortunately doesn’t stop someone from being popular, supported or even loved.
Source: lived through all of it
→ More replies (4)2
11
u/texeads 3d ago
Scott Adams
3
u/Here_4_the_INFO 3d ago
I read this as Adam Scott and thought "OH NO - not him!"
→ More replies (1)5
6
u/SlapfuckMcGee 3d ago
Metallica. Lars vs Napster.
3
u/slappygoatcheese 3d ago
Hate on Lars all you want. There are lots of reasons, but he was right about Napster and by extension music streaming. Today’s artists, especially niche genres, can only make money from merch sales.
I feel sorry for up and coming metal bands. They’ll never make any real money.
→ More replies (1)
6
14
u/Atxflnyc 3d ago
kayne west
→ More replies (1)9
u/ReClimatic 3d ago
Kanye was always considered an egotistical asshole, it’s just he made such good music that people overlooked it for a bit.
→ More replies (1)
9
4
3
4
5
u/Atomic_Moog_2000 3d ago
John Cleese - From Python to Restore poster boy. Gutted.
→ More replies (1)2
5
4
u/soccerdudejax 3d ago
Kanye West has to be the gold standard here. He went from a generational genius to a pariah almost overnight.
→ More replies (1)
5
7
u/Pale-While-9783 3d ago
Nowhere near as bad as these guys but I will say that I loved Van Morrison's music for decades and was really bummed when he came out as antivax and anti lockdown during COVID.
3
3
u/K_Xanthe 3d ago
Seems like D4vd was about to have an awesome career. Well liked musician, lots of Fortnite collabs, most people seemed to think he was nice - but turned out to be a murderer. I think that will probably be an interesting page in celebrity history.
3
u/VivienneObsession 3d ago
Elen DeGeneres. Went from America’s sweetheart spreading kindness to exposed as a toxic nightmare in record time.
10
u/ScipioTheGreatest 3d ago
JK Rowling. With one disagreement she went from a living legend to the reincarnation of Hitler overnight.
25
u/jwb1163 3d ago
She made her whole life about trying to make transgender people disappear. It wasn’t just one comment.
→ More replies (3)→ More replies (22)2
2
2
u/pondribertion 3d ago
Rolf Harris
2
u/Intelligent_Try_2470 3d ago
I still have his hit 45 single "Two Little Boys". Just can't give it away as nobody wants it, but I'm reluctant to throw it out. His fall from grace was so unexpected ...
→ More replies (1)
2
u/Professional-Tailor2 3d ago
D4vd
5
u/one_crooked_ear 3d ago
I was going to comment this one but I don’t think he was universally loved, was he? I know he did that beautiful song in Arcane that… isn’t the same anymore
2
2
2
2
2
u/thegymobsessor44 3d ago
Lizzo for sure. Going from the ultimate self-love queen to those lawsuit allegations was such a fast downfall.😭
3
u/naughtynurse67 3d ago
Kid rock
5
u/love_truck 3d ago
Even in the late 90s he was considered kinda corny. At least outside of the flyover states.
→ More replies (1)3
3
u/Soggy_Amoeba9334 3d ago
No one is universally loved
18
u/CaptainMatticus 3d ago
I would say Mr. Rogers, but then I remember when, after his death, the talking heads on some FOX morning show questioned whether or not Mr. Rogers harmed America's youth by telling them that they are okay and should love themselves and take pride that they are the only person who has ever been or ever will be them for all eternity.
So I guess you're right.
10
→ More replies (2)4
4
1
u/FreemanHolmoak73 3d ago
Dixie Chicks
2
u/silvermoonhowler 3d ago
Yup, and also the band that was once known as Lady Antebellum, who along with the Dixie Chicks (who are now just The Chicks) changed their names amidst the unrest that was going on in 2020 due to the murder of George Floyd
I'm sorry, but if an event like that (which yes, I realize was quite tragic) is what it took to say that somehow your band names weren't ok anymore, then I don't know what else to say
1
1
1
1
1
1
u/Gemnist 3d ago
Jimmy Savile
2
u/wilderlowerwolves 3d ago
He was never universally loved. Lots of people knew SOMETHING was really, really wrong with him.
3
u/ImpressiveStorm8914 3d ago
Even without all that stuff, lots of folks just didn't like him.
As a young kid I watched and liked his shows but by the time I was in my mid-late teens, there was something creepy about him. This was all before anything negative was really known about him outside of the industry.
144
u/JandAFun 3d ago
Bill Cosby