OCD about liking a problematic musician

To me I hear the underlying fear of rejection and cancelation and the shame of not being pure. It’s like the contamination theme only about social purity.

I have found there is a direct positive correlation between the degree to which I am willing to forgive other people for their mistakes and misdeeds, and the degree to which I am willing to forgive myself. I have found on days where I am feeling more judgmental of others (in a very final sense: “you did this, therefore you are this, entirely, irredeemably, now and forever”), I am actually equally or even more judgmental of myself, which dials up my anxiety and concerns about myself, my past, my sense of self-worth. Days where I accept other people’s mistakes and misdeeds as simple signs of their human nature, I feel much more comfortable with myself. Just something I wanted to share which you may find useful to think about, if this turns out to be true for you too.

I also deal with this, just a couple of days I stopped listening to one of my favorite artists because she said some really gross/disturbing stuff when she was a teenager.

Sounds like a core fear of rejection or societal ostracism. Let me ask you something, would someone listening to an artist that you find personally problematic and deplorable be enough alone for you to not like that other person. The sane and rational answer would be no. Human beings are so complex in nature that it’s impossible to limit us to just good or bad. For example Ghandi liberated India from English forces, but in his personal life he was a domestic abuser and likely worse. Still he liberated India as a collective from an oppressor. Coco Chanel, a famous fashion icon who despite her circumstances became wealthy and well known, and she also indirectly helped with the social progression movement of women. She was also a known anti-Semite and was believed to be a Nazi spy during the Nazi occupation of France. Still she played an important role in fashion and especially women’s role in the fashion industry. As we are capable of doing extreme good we are also capable of doing extreme evil. If liking a potentially problematic artist is the worst thing that you can do in this life, then frankly my friend you are blessed. And if there are people genuinely either in real life or online giving you a hard time about this, then frankly they are losers and need to do something more productive with themselves. Anyone can sit on a high horse like their shit don’t stink or like they’re the most perfect moral person ever. When frankly as long as you’re a human being and not a deity that’s impossible. There’s this expectation for everyone to be perfect past present and future in order to be “deserving” of success in this life. But human beings are just simply imperfect. In general. So who’s right is it to demand perfection when likely themselves are anything but?

I haven't had significant OCD issues about this (yet... amiright?!) but I find myself hesitant to "like" things on social sometimes because OCD says "what if that person is problematic normally and just happened to say something you agree with". I don't get too distressed and just dismiss it... which is what you'll want to practice doing when those intrusive thoughts comes up for you! Accept that it's possible, but that until you know that they're not someone you'd support, you'll listen to their music because it is meaningful to you. It's tough at first, but it can get easier with practice.

It kinda hurts to completely stop listening to someone who you love once you find out the bad things they did/said