It’s common for people to enjoy something a person makes even if they don’t like or agree with the creator. Nowadays, this conflict often arises when talking about celebrities, especially musicians. Due to recent events, one name likely pops into your head: Kanye West. However, he’s not the only person you may think of, as other examples include R. Kelly, Chris Brown, Eminem and Michael Jackson.

It can be hard for people to stop listening to the music they enjoy because the person who created it did something bad. No matter what happens outside the studio, the song won’t change, meaning if you liked it before, you’ll like it now. However, some people are uncomfortable with keeping artists who have done or said hurtful things at the top of popularity rankings where they continue to gain fame and money. If you feel guilty about listening to someone for that reason, you’re allowed to make that personal choice, but it’s unfair to shame someone else for what they listen to as it’s unlikely to accomplish anything.

When artists do or say something that upsets people, they’re usually not punished by their listeners, but by other forces. For example, the worst thing that happened to Kanye West after his antisemitic tweets was losing his deal with Adidas, which accounted for around $1.5 billion of his net worth. While no one reasonable agrees with what he said, refusing to listen to his music out of principle isn’t going to change much. This also applies to the artists mentioned earlier, who saw their careers fall after their respective controversies.

No one likes it when a person we look up to and whose work we appreciate does something reprehensible and makes us want to hate everything they’ve made; however, you can still enjoy a piece of art for what it’s worth by itself, regardless of who it’s tied to.