It may be hard to distinguish the art from the artist but, in my opinion, it all depends on the case we are dealing with. A great example of that can be the author of the Harry Potter series, JK Rowling, who has been promoting women's rights and supporting homosexual people over the years. 

In one of the interviews, she even admitted that one of Harry Potter's characters, Albus Dumbledore, was in a short relationship with the other male character, Gellert Grindelwald. She has had a great reputation until she showed her support for Maya Forstater, a British researcher, who said that transgender women are not women. On December 19, 2019, JK Rowling tweeted:

Dress however you please.

Call yourself whatever you like.

Sleep with any consenting adult who’ll have you. 

Live your best life in peace and security. 

But force women out of their jobs for stating that sex is real? #IStandWithMaya #ThisIsNotADrill

— J.K. Rowling (@jk_rowling) December 19, 2019

Does the controversial behaviour of JK Rowling mean, that I will stop reading her books? The real question is - what kind of controversial behaviour did they represent and what consequences will it bring to their career and reputation. In this case, absolutely not. 

In my opinion, the real achievement is to distinguish that kind of controversial things has the artist done. JK Rowling did not commit a crime, she just behaved in a wrong way, supporting a person who shared a transphobic opinion. The real question is - what kind of controversial behaviour did they represent and what consequences will it bring to their career and reputation. 

Making the decision whether to support the artist or not can become a real challenge when that person committed a crime or has done something serious. In 2009, Chris Brown has on his way to attend Grammy Awards, when he started acting aggressively and beat Rihanna. He was found guilty and got a suspended sentence. 

As a ten years old Chris Brown's fan, I was shocked and I could not believe that he could do something like that. After that it was hard for me to listen to his music and eventually, I stopped following his career. After all these years, I am still not willing to listen to his music even though I know that he and Rihanna have made up. 

Being an LGBT+ supporter, I had to choose between the art and the artist when I heard about Sherry Pie story. Sherry Pie, actually Joey Gugliemelli, RuPaul's Drag Race superstar, was accused of catfishing,  asking for nudes and other personal recordings, and sexual harassment. After that, Sherry Pie was disqualified from the show. She admitted to sexual misconduct. 

In this case, it was a real struggle to choose whether to support Sherry Pie or not. I realised that this decision (whether to support the artist who has done controversial things or not) is a matter of our personal opinion of that. If we think, we can still listen to music, watch movies or read the books written by that celebrity, it is only our choice and nobody should blame us for that. 

There are so many cases when someone's discography has helped a fan to struggle with their problems, or to find their identity. It should be one's decision whether to stop supporting the artist and do not follow their career, to read the books or listen to their music but do not value them as good artists anymore, or to stop following them and listening to their music.