Our reluctance to have an honest and open conversation about the flaws of celebrities we love stems from a simple fact: we see ourselves in them. If your favorite smart, talented, successful celebrity can be classist, sexist or racist then what does that say about you? Well, it says that you can be classist, sexist, racist, homophobic, or transphobic.

But you can and you are at least some of these things sometimes. So am I. Own it. Learn from it. It’s not an attack, it’s the truth. Nobody is a perfect example of civil rights virtue. If you aren’t screwing up, you aren’t trying.

— Admit It: Your Fave Is Problematic — Matter — Medium

Nobody likes to learn uncomfortable truths about themselves, let alone the people they admire, but it’s the only way we can learn. How can you expect to do better by others, and even by yourself, when you don’t know when you’re causing harm? Try to drop the defensiveness, and cross the empathy gap.