Celebrity culture has become a huge part of modern society. But public opinion isn’t fixed, and when you’re living under a magnifying glass, thousands or even millions are waiting to judge your every move.
One Reddit thread vividly illustrates just how fast we can change our minds about someone. It started when a person who goes on the platform by the nickname PerspectiveMedical71 asked others, “What’s something a famous person has done that just completely changed how you viewed them?”
As of now, they’ve received over 3.6K replies, so we decided to compile some of the most popular ones and challenge you, dear readers, to scroll through the list and see if it makes you look at these well-known individuals any differently.
#1
Pretty much everything Keanu Reeves does. Finding out about his kindness and activism made me see him as something other than the “surfer dude” I had in my mind.
Image credits: raulrocks99
#2
Pretty sure any time I’ve learned about anything Dolly Parton has ever done has only generated more respect for her.
#3
Steve Buscemi was always a talented actor, but his unheralded deeds at Ground Zero humanized him in such a way that I knew at heart he was just a friend who wanted to help people.
Image credits: anon
#4
During the filming of Matilda, Danny Devito and Rhea Pearlman took care Mara Wilson while her mother was battling breast cancer.
Basically Danny Devito is the complete opposite of Frank Reynolds IRL.
Image credits: UnconstrictedEmu
#5
Ashton Kutcher started advocating for trafficking victims. Like hardcore dumped nearly all his life’s worth into it and basically continues to pursue his career so he can keep dumping more into it.
He went from a vapid pretty boy narcissist actor to one of my most respected role models nearly instantly.
Image credits: _Goose_
#6
Met Bill Pullman at an after-premiere party at more or less the height of his fame (my wife worked at the studio for the movie we had just seen). People always talked to me at these things until they found out I worked in the lowly service industry, and then would immediately terminate the conversation and get the hell out of there (since I could be of no use to them). Bill Pullman was the opposite. He actually got excited that I was not one of these “phony a******s,” but instead a real person, and talked to me for a good while, just shooting the s**t about whatever, asking me about what my work was like. You would not believe the stories I have about people my wife worked with, former classmates, etc, behaving like I may as well be rolling in a sewer to be working a regular job and doing my art on the side, instead of climbing a ladder somewhere. It was nice to have someone way more successful than any of them coming from the opposite direction, and I always thought I would give him public props if I ever got the chance, so hopefully this doesn’t get too buried.
Image credits: crick_in_my_neck
#7
Ludacris: look up what he did after the earthquake in Haiti. My friend is his pilot, and he flew 14 straight days bringing in relief supplies and medical personnel!
Image credits: IllustratorOk1774
#8
Sinead O’Connor. She had a popular song on the radio. Thought she was going places. Then she tore a picture of Pope John Paul II on stage. I thought she was a nut job. Turns out she was on to something protesting sex abuse cases.
So basically a 360 on her, or two 180s.
Image credits: Medicivich
#9
Every actor or director who signed a petition to have Roman Polanski forgiven for drugging and violently raping and sodomizing a teenager. Unfortunately there are quite a few of them and they’re all disgusting.
Edit: my wife just corrected me. She wasn’t a teenager, she was 12.
Image credits: wereunderyourbed
#10
I was a child when the Monica Lewinsky and Bill Clinton thing happened. I remembered how everyone seemed mad at her, so I just never questioned it.
She did a TED talk about that intense, public scrutiny, and how she eventually learned from it.
That level of continuous strength is so inspiring to me. It definitely reshaped the image I had of her as a child.
Image credits: Hot_Farm_9443
#11
ODB saving that little girl who was trapped under a car after an accident, them visiting her in the hospital EVERY. DAY. under a false name so no one would know.
Really humanized him outside his thug-hip-hop persona.
Image credits: TheLordJohnWayne
#12
When John Mulaney cheated on the wife he acted like he worshipped, I lost complete respect for him.
If he never had held her up as some paragon of perfection, I likely wouldn’t have cared so much. But don’t act like some awesome catch of a husband and then turn 100% douchey overnight.
Image credits: SaltyEsty
#13
Eddie Murphy. The way he denied his child with Mel B and tried to portray her as a stalking groupie. His ex wife was the one who reached out to her so their children could connect. And initially, even after a positive DNA test, he still didn’t step up. Lost all respect for him as a man.
Image credits: Marmenoire
#14
Allison Mack. I kinda had a crush on her back in the Smallville days (I was 13 or 14 when the show came out) but she always seemed nice. Then I learned how she was helping traffic young girls into a sex cult. Absolutely bizarre.
Image credits: Artilleryman13
#15
Guy Fieri’s extensive charity work. I always thought he’d be an insufferable NASCAR douche but he’s not.
Image credits: mlc2475
#16
I’ll never forget watching the oscars and seeing all the people give that standing ovation for Roman Polanski, knowing damn well what he did. Forever disgusted. And Whoopi Goldberg saying it wasn’t “rape rape.” And Quentin Tarantino excusing it because she was a “party girl.” I know he has since apologized for that but it’s hard for me to forget. I don’t know how an apology makes up for a grown man who should know better saying something like that in a public forum. The story is too close to home for me.
#17
I wasn’t a Britney Spears fan until I saw how human she is. Britney Spears. I don’t listen to her music but I root for her.
#18
Bill Cosby. Such a disappointment.
#19
Shaq: I served him many times at a restaurant in downtown Portland. He was so nice to the kids that saw him, he would leave the bar area for signatures since the kids could not come in that part. I saw him run across the dining room to catch/help an old lady get on a bar stool. For comparison sake, I saw Dirk drop a gum wrapper on a table while a family was eating there. That soccer guy pg for lakers(forgot his name) would have 5 young girls with him and hide his face.
Image credits: Odd-Ad-8369
#20
Tom Cruise – Scientology
Image credits: Brundleflyftw
#21
What Chris brown did to Rhianna. I can’t help but think of that every time I hear him.
Image credits: ecleipsis
#22
Never was a huge fan of Taylor Swift, but when she gave Ke$ha $150,000 (pretty sure that amount not certain however) to get out of her abusive record deal. Definitely made me look at her differently. Then when Demi Lovato left some petty tweet after the ordeal, made me hate them even more.
Image credits: chairUrchin
#23
JJ Watt. When the city of Houston was devastated by Hurricane Harvey, he started a fund to help the people affected by it. He hoped to raise $200,000, but instead raised $40,000,000. He made absolutely sure that every cent went directly to relief efforts. There was a celebrity telethon that didn’t raise nearly as much. Never really thought about him either way, but after that I have an immense amount of respect for the man.
Image credits: Bakemydaybaby
#24
KEVIN SPACEY. The man elevates every movie he’s in. But holy s**t, he is a TERRIBLE PERSON! Can’t even rewatch things he was in now.
Image credits: korthlm
#25
Ive seen some positive examples. Let me break that.
Nicki minaji has shown support for her bother despite that he is a child rapist. And drake also has been very….’interested’ in teen girls like billie ellish and millie bobby brown.
The fact they aint exiled from society and their behavior isnt seem as a deal breaker for fans sickens me
Image credits: anon
#26
Nacy Cartwright. (Voice of Bart Simpson) When I found out she’s a Scientologist. Which would explain why The Simpsons never made any jokes about it.
Image credits: anon
#27
while a lot of actors do this, it irks me the most with leonardo di caprio how he only seems to date women 18-25.
Image credits: OprahAndMinge
#28
Jim Carrey. Jenny McCarthy gets all the anti-vaccine hate, but Jim Carrey was dating her at the time and 100% backed her up. He has spread his own lies about vaccines.
He also said some not okay (sexual) things about Emma Stone when she was a young actress.
He made the following quote about Elin Nordegren, “No wife is blind enough to miss that much infidelity. Elin had 2 b a willing participant on the ride 4 whatever reason. kids/lifestyle…”
In general, he is really problematic when it comes to women.
#29
Mel Gibson’s anti-Semitism. I used to think he was a cool guy. But he proved to be a complete a*****e.
#30
Travis scott stopping a concert for a shoe but not for people’s lives
#31
Robert Pattinson.
For years, the only thing I knew him as was the sh*ttiest vampire ever in one of the lamest movie series ever. I thought he was bland, flat, and generally just a bad actor.
But then I saw “The Lighthouse” cause Willem Dafoe is one of my favorite actors, and the reviews were great, so I figured he likely carried Pattinson.
However, Pattinson was great! His performance was so surprisingly good it elevated the movie even further for me!
I caught a few interviews of him on YouTube afterwards and found out he at one point went out on a date with a girl who was stalking him and just b**ched about how no one even knew him and just loved the sparkly vampire, and she got so bored she left and stopped stalking him, and that was his plan!
Like, that alone made me feel so bad for writing him off, and though that story is amazing and kind of wrinkle brained as f**k, it is also quite sad, cause I know I wasn’t anywhere near the only person to write him off or idolize him for that one s****y role. So now I’m a huge fan, and because of this I no longer judge an actor on a single role, I always reserve judgement of them overall until I see them multiple times (though I won’t hesitate to say a specific role wasn’t good lol).
It not only changed my view of Pattinson but actors overall.
#32
I use to love listening to R Kelly’s music and since his conviction for sexual offending, his music, is a turn off, literally.
#33
Kanye West’s entire public persona. I like (most of) his music, but fame can cause people to lose sight of themselves and I think that’s what happened. The *jeen-yuhs* documentary reveals that he used to be a lot more grounded. He was always arrogant, but the fame made him think he’s a god, and anyone who says or does something he doesn’t like is cut off (see: Kid Cudi beef).
#34
I loved Sean Connery so much growing up … Him doubling down on hitting women made me dislike him
#35
Alec Baldwin when that voicemail he left his daughter was released.