The recent ‘Leaving Neverland’ documentary shared the experiences of two men who were claim they were befriended and then abused by Michael Jackson when they were boys. Following this, a number of radio stations removed Jackson’s back-catalog from their playlists and The Simpsons withdrew their episode featuring the now deceased pop star.
This raises many questions, including ‘can we enjoy the music of a person who has been accused of doing wrong?’ For some people, their affiliation with Jackson may be due to songs connected with childhood memories rather acceptance of his actions.
Other recent public figures discredited following sexual abuse include the high profile cases of Rolf Harris, Jimmy Saville and George Pell. Although not ‘artists’ per se, they may have been seen by others as having a positive impact on the world despite the horrendous crimes that they were late found to have committed.
Join us at this month’s café psychologique when we’ll be considering if we can separate art from the artist.
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