What do we do with the works of problematic people?

Do we pretend the records, books and films no longer exist, or ban our children from engaging with them?

Caption:David Walliams was an actor and comedian who wrote children's books.Photo credit:Supplied

As British comedian and author David Walliams faces allegations of grooming, it raises once again the age old question of how we deal with problematic personalities’ works.

Ponsonby’s The Open Book has removed his books from their shelves. Unity Books told the NZ Herald they too were “phasing out” them out. Major chain stores also appear to follow suit, including Whitcoulls, The Warehouse and Paper Plus, where error messages displayed online. None could be found at physical branches either when RNZ visited some over the weekend.

Across history, whether it’s Michael Jackson, J. K. Rowling, or Russell Brand, tarnished legacies have raised the question of whether consumption equals support, regardless of whether controversies centre on alleged or proven crimes or simply views that conflict with some fans’ values and beliefs.

But how do we decide once an artist, author or entertainer is ‘cancelled’?

Why are we so tied to pop culture?

Massey University media studies associate professor Nicholas Holm says nostalgia can make it difficult to draw the line, particularly when a connection to a work began before allegations emerged.

Creatives who become icons are often put on pedestals, making the disappointment more profound when that image is shattered, says Wellington-based writer, reviewer and librarian Lucy Black.

“They're not heroes and monsters, and their worth is not intrinsically tied to their art. They're just very flawed people, and I think we have to approach each one as a separate case.”

She was shocked to discover concerns about Alice in Wonderland author Lewis Carroll as an adult, but says we cannot recall the “collective consciousness” of his books that have become culturally significant.

“I think a lot of people feel that way about Harry Potter as well. They have a fondness for it. It shapes them. It's too late.”

Can we 'separate the art from the artist'?

Authors such as Rowling and artists such as Michael Jackson and Chris Brown continue to sell at shops RNZ spoke to, albeit with varying degrees of popularity. In fact, Jackson’s ‘Thriller’ hit a peak of No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart months after the release of his biopic. (The Jackson estate continues to deny allegations against the singer.)

Auckland’s Real Groovy Records manager Sarah Williamson says most customers appear to separate the art from the artist, except when crimes are “particularly horrific”.

But it is a case-by-case decision. While English writer Neil Gaiman continues to deny recent sexual misconduct allegations against him, The Open Book has seen an increase in his books being dropped off to the second-hand store.

Meanwhile even older controversies seem to linger. Wellington’s Slow Boats Records manager Jeremy Taylor realised one of the “I love…” badges featuring each Beatles member seemed to not be a fan-favourite this year. John Lennon.

So the type of content and genre matter too, Holm says. He suggests Michael Jackson might have been viewed differently as a folk singer with a guitar than as a manufactured pop star performing “globe-spanning, mass-orchestrated, choreographed concert tours”.

The more we see of an artist in their work, the harder it can be to separate the two, he says.

“Artists get cancelled when they do something that means we can no longer enjoy their work. I think that's why Bill Cosby is gone, but J. K. Rowling persists, because we can read Harry Potter without thinking about her.”

In the end, the decision comes down to what we can stomach and whether we can still enjoy the work, Holm says.

Cancel culture vs freedom of intellect

Holm encourages his students to look beyond the question of whether creators financially benefit from their work, which can be “a misrepresentation of why we love these works and what we're doing when we engage with them”.

“What does it mean to find pleasure and fulfillment and interest and engagement in the work of somebody, in the thoughts of somebody, in the minds of somebody who we understand and we believe to be a bad person?”

However, he argues that engaging with Walliams’ “fairly mass-produced derivative works of Roald Dahl” is different from enjoying Russell Brand's comedy, which he describes as “quite clearly an expression of a predator”.

While ‘cancel culture’ can be justified when dealing with “reprehensible” figures, removing the work of a person to punish them for holding a different view - unrelated to the created work - is complicated, Holm says. The purpose of arts and culture is to broaden our understanding of the world, he says.

School Library Association of NZ Aotearoa (SLANZA) president Trena Lile says libraries support freedom of information.

“We are there to give students and members of the public or whoever is using our library space the opportunity to make their own decisions and to read widely and to understand things from different perspectives.”

She describes libraries as a place of understanding for authors and readers.

“There are so many problematic authors there. If we cancelled every single one of them, we'd run out of books…

“And how many kids started reading because of Harry Potter? How many kids started reading because of David Walliams?”

A list of banned books in New Zealand, up to September 2025, shows a majority of objectionable and indecent material sexual nature or in relation to drugs. No songs were classified as objectionable in the past 15 years, the Classification Office says.

“The legal threshold for banning content in New Zealand is high. We must balance freedom of expression against the likelihood to cause harm. Controversial, offensive or unpopular ideas are not automatically objectionable (banned) under New Zealand law.”

What about the social damage and victims?

While cultural works can cause political and social harm, Holm says that damage cannot always be inferred from a creator's beliefs or work. For example, while he doesn’t endorse Rowling’s transgender views, much like Walliams’ work, Harry Potter is not a text about those views, he argues.

On the other hand, context can matter, too. The Open Book’s Lynch grew up with Harry Potter but no longer engages with it. While the shop does sell Rowling's books, she doesn’t promote them online. The shop is a safe space for queer staff and customers, she says.

“In terms of J. K. Rowling, I think that people are going to buy her anyway.

“Since we are secondhand, if I can sort of divert someone from buying it new, that's preferable. But at the same time, I don't have a hard and fast of what's right, what's wrong, what's the thing to do.”

Where do libraries and shops draw the line?

The nature of an allegation or crime weighed against the target audience can make the decision more clear for people. Australian author Craig Silvey’s books were removed from Western Australia’s school curriculum following his guilty plea over child exploitation material.

Earlier this year, SLANZA acknowledged to its school library members Silvey’s case feels “particularly abhorrent given his privileged position as a children’s author and the nature of his crimes”. But they still encouraged members to establish their own robust collection policies, including criteria for selecting and removing books.

SLANZA’s Lile says she would keep Walliams’ books in her high school library but would not replace damaged or lost copies. The same applies to Silvey's books. They also retain Harry Potter but do not buy new copies.

Lynch says given Walliams’ target audience was children, it makes it particularly challenging to keep selling his books. So that guided their decision to remove them altogether.

School librarian Black makes Walliams’ and Rowling's books available, but distinguishes this from actively promoting them. She may instead suggest alternatives to students.

“I want them to be able to navigate it themselves and use a critical lens and choose their own things. I'm never going to shame somebody for what they enjoy if it's not harmful.”

Williamson says Real Groovy Records does not prevent customers from ordering work by problematic or convicted artists, believing most are mature enough to decide for themselves.

“It’s not our position to make those judgements, we wouldn’t stop stocking the Jackson 5 records from the ‘60s and ‘70s, because of Michael Jackson’s alleged crimes in the 2000s.”

However, the shop does have limits too. Williamson says some stock associated with paedophiles has been discarded, while the store keeps internal notes on Blackmetal artists with national socialist links whom it refuses to stock. It has also donated a large volume of this music to the Holocaust Centre of NZ for educational purposes.

What do I tell my kids?

Lile says conversations about controversial authors depend on a child's age. High school students can have more open discussions about freedom of information and the court process, while primary school students may need parents to guide their decisions.

“Every parent has the right to choose what their child reads, but a librarian does not.”

When junior high school students choose “some slightly dubious” books, Lile makes sure they know what to expect.

“Sometimes we will go as far as to say, there's sex in this. There's explicit sex in this. There's explicit violence in this. There are bad things that happen in this. But more often than not, I will just say, ‘this book is a lot… If you feel uncomfortable at any point, close it up, bring it back’.”

Black’s motto is thinking about what kind of voices fill our heads and getting a variation.

“Make sure you're picking up voices that you're not normally listening to, especially someone thinking about who you're not interacting with all the time, like pick up voices from minorities, pick up voices from different genres, and pick up voices from small presses.”

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