THE SHAUN SAYS THIS…

 It is easy to say that we live in a world with constant and (increasingly) instant information…especially when it comes to dirt and scandal. In the midst of the mud flinging on everything from celebrity gossip blogs and Twitter/Facebook posts, news flies at a pace faster than we at times can handle. Now nothing is going to stop the flow of gossip as it’s a poison that we may never find an antidote.

At times, seemingly unforgivable acts looked passed when those involved are able to produce great works afterwards. Are we too welcoming and “forgiving” to others as long as they continue to perform and entertain us to our standards or based on our previous impressions of them? For sake of agruments, lets dismiss “guilty or non-guilty” and “what is art” for another time

 Let’s look at an example to examine this further.

 By the summer of 2003, Kobe Bryant was already a 3-time NBA Champion, MVP candidate with endorsement deals totalling over $100 million. That was before he checked into the Lodge and Spa at Cordillera in Eagle, Colorado where shortly after he was accused of sexual assault by one of the hotel’s employees.

 While the criminal charges were dropped and a settlement reached in the civil suit, it can be argued that many in the court of public option and many gossip column considered Kobe Bryant at best…an adulterer and at worst…a rapist. McDonalds, Ferreo SpA and Nutella terminated their endorsement deals with Bryant who was heavily booed for quited some time upon returning full time to the court.

 Kobe’s reputation took even more of a hit during the very public feud with then teammate, Shaquillel O’Neal along with the lack of success the Lakers after the trade of O’Neal which many would say was forced by Bryant. In Phil Jackson’s book “The Last Season: The Team in Search of Its Soul”, Jackson referred to Bryant as uncoachable and by the 2005-06 NBA Season, Kobe Bryant was known as one of the villians of not just the NBA but the entire sports as he was voted #1 on many “Most Hated/Despised Athletes” lists.

 Then on January 22, 2006…Kobe scored 81 points.

 Slowly but surely…those who booed Bryant were now once again wearing his jersey, especially after he changed his number from 8 to 24. By season’s end, he was once again a MVP candidate. By 2007, Nike released a new Kobe Bryant shoe for the first time since he visited Eagle, Colorado and Coca-Cola signed Bryant to a deal to promote Vitamin Water. Oh and the cover of NBA 07…and NBA 2K9

 2 MVP Awards, 2 more NBA Championships and an Olympic Gold Medal later…while Kobe’s popularity may not be at the heights of his earlier years…Eagle, Colorado is only a whisper.

 Nice turnaround huh? Let’s thrown a couple of more names who can be tossed into a similar side of this discussion.

 Michael Vick, whom was convicted on dog-fighting charges in 2007, came back to the NFL in 2009 and was a MVP candidate by the end of the 2010 season with endorsement deals with Nike and Unequal Tech.

 Roman Polanski has been a fugitive of the U.S. government since 1978 yet has made several successful movies with American actors and even was awarded an Oscar in 2002 (whose ceremony is held in California which is the state where Polanski was originally charged)

 Robbert Downey Jr., Jerry Lee Lewis, Justin Timberlake, Woody Allen, Elvis Presley… the list goes on.

 Is this work of great PR? Is it in our nature to forgive? Or do we become blinded by great works, regardless of the artist behind them? Or is the ART bigger then the ARTIST?

 Are we dismissing potentially masters of their craft because we do not approval of their personal or moral choices?

 Both R. Kelly and Michael Jackson never truly recovered from their scandals even though they were never convicted in a court of law.

 Mel Gibson has been ostracised by mass media since scandals involving anti-Semitic remarks and accusation of domestic violence

 Musicians such have Alicia Keys and Leanne Rimes have supposedly seen a decline in fan support in the midst of love triangles they’ve been involved.

 And of course, there’s Chris Brown.

So The Shaun asks…What more important…THE ART or THE ARTIST? Can great art/performance overshadow your personal perception of the artist? Or can that perception keep you from potentially great art/performance? Does the scandal affect your perception or can you look past it?