Separating Art from the Artist in the Era of Cancel Culture

Separating art from the artist has taken on new meaning in the era of Cancel Culture. Musicians, authors, and others in the public spotlight can easily find themselves canceled, their careers in shambles, for reasons ranging from innocuous comments taken out of context to full-blown egregious racism or misogyny. The line between an artist’s beliefs and their work is blurred, at best.

Just what is a devoted follower of the aesthetic to do -- blindly admire artists’ beautiful works and ignore their underlying prejudices, biases, or worse, offensive actions?