35 People Reveal What Made Them Forever Change Their Mind About Certain Celebrities

Pretty much everything Keanu Reeves does. Finding out about his kindness and activism made me see him as something other than the "surfer dude" I had in my mind.

Pretty sure any time I've learned about anything Dolly Parton has ever done has only generated more respect for her.

Steve Buscemi was always a talented actor, but his unheralded deeds at Ground Zero humanized him in such a way that I knew at heart he was just a friend who wanted to help people.

During the filming of Matilda, Danny Devito and Rhea Pearlman took care Mara Wilson while her mother was battling breast cancer.

Basically Danny Devito is the complete opposite of Frank Reynolds IRL.

Met Bill Pullman at an after-premiere party at more or less the height of his fame (my wife worked at the studio for the movie we had just seen). People always talked to me at these things until they found out I worked in the lowly service industry, and then would immediately terminate the conversation and get the hell out of there (since I could be of no use to them). Bill Pullman was the opposite. He actually got excited that I was not one of these "phony a******s," but instead a real person, and talked to me for a good while, just shooting the s**t about whatever, asking me about what my work was like. You would not believe the stories I have about people my wife worked with, former classmates, etc, behaving like I may as well be rolling in a sewer to be working a regular job and doing my art on the side, instead of climbing a ladder somewhere. It was nice to have someone way more successful than any of them coming from the opposite direction, and I always thought I would give him public props if I ever got the chance, so hopefully this doesn't get too buried.

Ashton Kutcher started advocating for trafficking victims. Like hardcore dumped nearly all his life's worth into it and basically continues to pursue his career so he can keep dumping more into it.

He went from a vapid pretty boy narcissist actor to one of my most respected role models nearly instantly.

Ludacris: look up what he did after the earthquake in Haiti. My friend is his pilot, and he flew 14 straight days bringing in relief supplies and medical personnel!

Sinead O’Connor. She had a popular song on the radio. Thought she was going places. Then she tore a picture of Pope John Paul II on stage. I thought she was a nut job. Turns out she was on to something protesting sex abuse cases.

So basically a 360 on her, or two 180s.

ODB saving that little girl who was trapped under a car after an accident, them visiting her in the hospital EVERY. DAY. under a false name so no one would know.

Really humanized him outside his thug-hip-hop persona.

I was a child when the Monica Lewinsky and Bill Clinton thing happened. I remembered how everyone seemed mad at her, so I just never questioned it.

She did a TED talk about that intense, public scrutiny, and how she eventually learned from it.

That level of continuous strength is so inspiring to me. It definitely reshaped the image I had of her as a child.

Every actor or director who signed a petition to have Roman Polanski forgiven for drugging and violently raping and sodomizing a teenager. Unfortunately there are quite a few of them and they’re all disgusting.

Edit: my wife just corrected me. She wasn’t a teenager, she was 12.

Eddie Murphy. The way he denied his child with Mel B and tried to portray her as a stalking groupie. His ex wife was the one who reached out to her so their children could connect. And initially, even after a positive DNA test, he still didn't step up. Lost all respect for him as a man.

Guy Fieri’s extensive charity work. I always thought he’d be an insufferable NASCAR douche but he’s not.

Bill Cosby. Such a disappointment.

Shaq: I served him many times at a restaurant in downtown Portland. He was so nice to the kids that saw him, he would leave the bar area for signatures since the kids could not come in that part. I saw him run across the dining room to catch/help an old lady get on a bar stool. For comparison sake, I saw Dirk drop a gum wrapper on a table while a family was eating there. That soccer guy pg for lakers(forgot his name) would have 5 young girls with him and hide his face.

JJ Watt. When the city of Houston was devastated by Hurricane Harvey, he started a fund to help the people affected by it. He hoped to raise $200,000, but instead raised $40,000,000. He made absolutely sure that every cent went directly to relief efforts. There was a celebrity telethon that didn't raise nearly as much. Never really thought about him either way, but after that I have an immense amount of respect for the man.

I wasn't a Britney Spears fan until I saw how human she is. Britney Spears. I don't listen to her music but I root for her.

Tom Cruise - Scientology

Never was a huge fan of Taylor Swift, but when she gave Ke$ha $150,000 (pretty sure that amount not certain however) to get out of her abusive record deal. Definitely made me look at her differently. Then when Demi Lovato left some petty tweet after the ordeal, made me hate them even more.

I’ll never forget watching the oscars and seeing all the people give that standing ovation for Roman Polanski, knowing damn well what he did. Forever disgusted. And Whoopi Goldberg saying it wasn’t “rape rape.” And Quentin Tarantino excusing it because she was a “party girl.” I know he has since apologized for that but it’s hard for me to forget. I don’t know how an apology makes up for a grown man who should know better saying something like that in a public forum. The story is too close to home for me.