So one of your favourites isn't such a great person. Should it matter?

Scandals have made us question the people behind the performances we once loved. The harder part is deciding if their art is still worth appreciating.

- Sazali Abdul Aziz

A fair while ago, in my early 20s when I had plenty more hair and could furiously headbang without getting neck pain, I chanced upon the Instagram account of the drummer of one of my favourite bands.

This was in the early days of Instagram, and I was stoked as I scrolled through his feed trying to get an idea of what the man behind the drum kit was like when he was offstage.

They say never meet your heroes. That warning should extend to their social media accounts too.

It did not take long for my excitement to make way for shock, and then deep disappointment when I came across a post where he referenced Muslims with a derogatory term.

I was mortified. Suddenly, the American band's music hit a wrong note with me.

It was strange trying to still enjoy something knowing that someone who contributed to it held bigoted views against people like me.

These feelings revisited me again recently, when I read reactions to Hulk Hogan's death at 71 back in July.

In the 1980s and 1990s, as the ultimate "good guy" in professional wrestling, he was larger than life, biceps bulging as he exhorted children to say their prayers and take their vitamins.

He starred in movies and TV shows, and transcended wrestling to become a pop culture icon.

But in the later years of his career and life, Hogan - real name Terry Bollea - proved problematic.

In 2015, leaked audio recordings captured him using the N-word and homophobic slurs, and he even admitted he was "a racist, to a point".

He was fired from the wrestling company he was contracted to at the time, and this cloud followed him for most of the last decade of his life.

In July 2024, just a little over a year before his death, Bollea polarised opinion even further when he endorsed Mr Donald Trump during his presidential campaign.