Diane Keaton’s surprising loss of life on October 11, 2025, at age 79 spurred an outpouring of grief and celebration of a lady who touched numerous lives by way of her work. Keaton starred in beloved motion pictures corresponding to Annie Corridor, The First Wives Membership and One thing’s Gotta Give — the varieties of flicks that many develop up with and like to revisit when the fitting temper strikes.
However within the days that adopted, her loss of life additionally prompted extra severe conversations concerning the components of the late actress’ life that weren’t fairly as universally cherished, corresponding to her longtime friendship and assist of once-boyfriend Woody Allen. The director, who married his ex-girlfriend Mia Farrow’s daughter Quickly Yi Previn in December 1997, was additionally accused of sexually molesting his daughter Dylan Farrow, who he adopted with Mia.
As Keaton, who adopted her personal daughter and son when she was in her 50s and who famously championed her determination to stay single for many of her maturity, was celebrated for her feminist views and unconventional decisions, many struggled to sq. their notion — or maybe projection — of who they believed she was with who she may need truly been.
That response isn’t distinctive to Keaton’s passing, Dr. Wilsa Charles Malveaux instructed Us Weekly by telephone name, and it’s additionally a deeply human response that’s primarily based on “not simply the films and the roles” a star like Keaton is portraying, “however even simply what they let individuals see.”
As a result of it’s straightforward to type a parasocial relationship with the actors, artists, musicians and athletes that so many people admire, it’s typically tougher to keep in mind that public figures so typically dwell a twin life: “You could have the particular person, the fuller, precise human being — the opposite half of the truth of who they’re — that we don’t usually get entry to,” Malveaux additionally stated. “I believe individuals get caught up admiring, and in some instances, idolizing, the persona and forgetting that it’s nonetheless an individual. And no one’s all good or all dangerous. All of us have flaws.”
This dynamic was on show following the deaths of Hulk Hogan, who died July 24, 2025, at age 71, and NBA star Kobe Bryant, who died January 26, 2020, at age 41. Each males have been largely celebrated within the speedy aftermath of their deaths, however, like Keaton, impressed bigger conversations about their difficult histories within the days and weeks that got here after.
(Hogan used racial slurs to explain daughter’s ex-boyfriend in 2007, and stated in the identical dialog that, “I’m a racist, to a degree.” He later apologized for utilizing the time period. Bryant was charged with felony sexual assault in July 2003; the felony case was dismissed the next 12 months.)
Maybe one of many extra complicated realities that many followers undergo following the loss of life of an individual with an advanced legacy is that there are sometimes different well-known individuals — usually who’re additionally deeply admired by the general public — who come out to defend the not too long ago deceased. It might probably make one query one’s personal perceptions and beliefs.
“Within the case of Diane Keaton supporting Woody Allen, we all know what has been stated about him from his daughter and from his ex-partner,” Malveaux stated. “And there’s undoubtedly a necessity an da push to imagine sexual assault survivors. We don’t know what his relationship with Diane Keaton was, nevertheless it wasn’t just a few random colleague that she was supporting.”
She continued: “There are individuals and different celebrities, too, that believed him when he stated he was harmless and that he didn’t do it. We’re type of judging issues with the courtroom of public opinion and primarily based off the knowledge we get with the media, social media, and the press — however that’s not the entire image, so it’s actually onerous for us to know [how to feel].”
In accordance with Malveaux, that is the purpose at which cognitive dissonance performs a significant function in what an individual decides subsequent. “So, principally, you’ve gotten two conflicting concepts: you imagine this particular person is an effective particular person they usually suit your ethical values — however then you definately discover out they’re related to a heinous crime. These two issues don’t mesh properly in your mind they usually trigger you discomfort.”
Diane Keaton and Woody Allen Getty Pictures
The result’s often one in all three issues, she added. An individual will change their beliefs to go well with the brand new actuality as they now perceive it, or they’ll determine “they don’t suppose this can be a good particular person anymore.” With this answer, “these two issues usually are not in battle” anymore.
Some individuals will even select to “ignore the a part of the concept that’s problematic to them. They’ll simply not take note of the allegations, for instance, or they’ll keep away from conditions that may spotlight the place these two issues come into battle.”
This sample of habits is particularly related when contemplating the lives and legacies of Keaton, Hogan, and Bryant. For a lot of, Keaton won’t ever cease being an unbelievable actress and mannequin for girls, regardless of her assist for a person who allegedly harmed a lady. Hogan will even be a wrestler who impressed others — together with Black wrestlers corresponding to Kazeem Famuyide — to pursue the game, regardless of the racism he admitted to. And Bryant, the daddy of 4 daughters and coach to many younger women in his later years, will even at all times be the person accused of sexual assault.
In the end, that is the purpose the place the age-old query comes into play: is it potential to separate the artwork from the artist? I personally have two Harry Potter-themed tattoos that I bought in 2012 and 2015, respectively — years earlier than writer J. Ok. Rowling first made her anti-trans feedback. I contemplate myself a powerful ally to the LGBTQ+ group, and have typically puzzled if I ought to alter the tattoos in some significant manner. However they’re nonetheless there, as a result of there’s a part of me — the half that first picked up Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone in 1999 and was launched to a world that carried me by way of challenges and triumphs for years — that also loves the collection and the whole lot it has introduced into my life.
Maybe one path towards mitigating the warring sides of this dialog is knowing that after we rejoice a star, we’re not actually celebrating that complete particular person. “We’ve got to acknowledge how a lot we’re placing on the general public picture and the persona” that somebody tasks, Malveaux instructed Us. “We’ve got to acknowledge that despite the fact that we’d fall in love with the persona, they’re nonetheless an individual, and we will’t be shocked if one thing comes out that doesn’t align with our values.”
Most crucially, she additionally stated, “We should acknowledge that [in any situation] we don’t have all the knowledge. As a lot info as we do have entry to, we don’t have all of it.”
Woody Allen is talking out following the loss of life of Annie Corridor costar Diane Keaton. “It’s grammatically incorrect to say ‘most unusual,’ however all guidelines of grammar, and I assume anything, are suspended when speaking about Diane Keaton. In contrast to anybody the planet has skilled or is unlikely to ever see once more, her face and giggle […]
In the end, it’s as much as every of us to sq. our private values with the methods we devour popular culture and who we individually look as much as, rejoice and admire. For me, that has meant not partaking straight with Bryant’s legacy however fortunately chatting with among the now-young ladies who he labored with; it additionally implies that I’ll in all probability preserve my Harry Potter tattoos and will certainly nonetheless watch a Diane Keaton film sometimes (I’ve by no means been a wrestling fan and have little interest in changing into one). That’s one thing I’m okay dwelling with for now — and it’s one thing that I, and all of us, at all times have the capability to vary sooner or later if that’s what we determine to do.
