Should we separate the art from the artist?

As early as last fall, ahead of the premiere of “Finding Neverland” at the Sundance Film Festival, the allegations from the 1990’s about Michael Jackson and children resurfaced. And now that HBO has aired the documentary, people with extensive collections of Jackson’s music are wondering if they should toss their copies of “Thriller”  or “ABC.” But this dilemma is only the latest development in the classic conflict: can one be a fan of the art while condemning the actions of the artist? In today’s society we find ourselves surrounded by hundreds of different artists that influence us and are supported by millions of people everywhere. Each artist has a reputation that they make for themselves, but more importantly one made by society. People often believe that once an artist is perceived to have a bad reputation everyone must disassociate with them and their art, because otherwise they will be seen as supporting them. However, we don’t often see that happening. Last year at one of the most popular and well-known music festivals in the US, Coachella-goers and Beyonce fans were faced with an ethical dilemma when it was revealed by Pitchfork that the owner of the parent company of Coachella, Philip Anschutz, had donated millions to anit-LGBTQ organizations. With this headline everywhere, people who had planned to attend did not end up buying tickets. Coachella may have lost a little business, but organizers still ran a successful and profitable festival. An individual that we have all heard of and most likely talked about is Kanye West. The famous rapper was hit with the spotlight three years ago for supporting Donald Trump after he sat down with the president last year to talk about some controversial topics. His fans were upset with his comments during the interview, and on the first saturday of his tour he performed three songs before he talked about his recent political views, then ended the show with thousands of fans shouting at him to leave the stage. After the incident, many ticket-holders for later concerts cashed in their tickets and the tour was cut short. This landed him an extremely costly lawsuit to pay for the rest of the tour, not to mention the loss of many fans. West has continued to express his political views, while trying to recoup the monetary losses from his tour. However, flash forward to today, he is still seen as a well known and paid rapper, with not many changes that affected him greatly. Even when controversy does damage to an artist’s persona, it usually doesn’t do as much as we would think. As previously mentioned, the most recent documentary “Leaving Neverland,” which premiered on March 3 on HBO, shed light on the two cases of men that accused Jackson of sexually abusing them. With the details from these cases going public, many have turned away from the legacy of the singer while others have chosen either to look past the allegations or to discount the stories altogether. However, according to many news organizations, radio stations worldwide have begun to ban Jackson’s music. And recently, “The Simpsons” producers announced they have pulled the episode “Stark Raving Dad” that aired in 1991 and featured Jackson’s voice as a character named Leon Kompowsky. Additionally, according to Billboard Magazine, plays of Jackson songs dropped by 39 percent from the last week of February to the first week of March. Notably, the overall songs and albums sales have dropped only 4 percent. Album sales are one thing, but fans who grew up with Jackson are still wrestling with how to think about his legacy. In a recent “Time” magazine opinion piece, writer Stephanie Zacharek wrote, “Jackson’s is one of the most complex types of tragedy, one that demands we hold the suffering of those he harmed as close as we hold the joy he brought us. It’s a tricky, near-impossible embrace.” Many believe it's possible to continue to listen to artists’ music without supporting them, but that is wishful thinking. Listening to their music supports them, even if they are only receiving a couple of cents per song. Having millions of people stream their music will eventually add up to an abundance of money going into their pockets. Even when we expect a creator’s fame and income to crash down after controversy, things often don’t turn out that way, as seen in these cases. Society cannot keep everyone from banning an artist nor can they make everyone separate the two.