“Let me google that” no longer is actually searching for an actual article sadly (even if only the 1st), but just parroting whatever its LLM vomits out.

For living people, money is definitely a big factor.

For both dead and living though, it just leaves a bad taste in my mouth. The emotional connection becomes a lot more difficult once I know that the creator did something heinous. This especially goes for music and books, since it’s more intimately connected to the creator(s). For things like movies and games though, due to the way larger crew, it’s easier to do so (given it’s not auteur driven).

But also, just giving it attention is a form of currency. It kind of gives legitimacy to the person, especially over longer periods where the bad stuff gets forgotten.