John Peel effect

When members of the public excuse a celebrity's crimes or immoral behaviour because they are huge fans of that celebrity, yet criticise someone else for doing exactly the same thing.

It is named after the British disc jockey, John Peel, who admitted to having sex with underage children, and who, after his death, turned out to have got a fifteen year old pregnant, and who started dating two of his wives when they were just fifteen years old. If John Peel had lived longer, he would have gone to prison, but because people like how he was a disc jockey who played interesting music, they overlook that, and there is even a stage at Glastonbury named after him. Conversely, the same people will criticise less appealing celebrities who did less bad things.

People hate Woody Allen, but love Prince who did exactly the same thing and even had a child with his adopted daughter. That's just the John Peel effect.

Sean Connery admitted that he often slapped women around the face to put them in their place, but people cried when he died - that's the John Peel effect.

There's a real John Peel effect going on with David Bowie - he's worse than Rolf Harris, but everyone still loves him.

by Bartholemew Handycam Pistachio February 12, 2025

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