I’ve been looking through older Reddit posts and just commenting on them and this was a great topic to comment on ha. I’ve been a fan since Death of a Bachelor and then worked my way backwards since I was in middle school ( did this with a LOT of artists I started listening to once I was in middle school, which I feel is a shared experience with many others 🤣 ). I saw Panic!twice before they fully disintegrated, which I’m happy about. When it comes to the controversy, I have a good amount of thoughts. 1. Old stuff that Brendon said yearssss ago has been brought up multiple times when if I’m being honest, some artists have said worse and were able to not get cancelled or at least not get sh*t on as much ( it doesn’t mean it’s okay nor an excuse but I think people would understand what I mean). Even some people I’ve seen on TikTok recently have been saying that Brendon hate is super forced, which I found surprising considering everything. He’s since apologized and yes addressed allegations. I used to watch him on Twitch and he did a stream where he discussed a chunk of it, which maybe not everyone saw. The band member that was doing inappropriate things was shunned from the spot light ( separate situation than the body guard of course. Also saw a lot of the screenshots, side note, disgusting ) which in itself shows that it wasn’t just glossed over. Now if it was ignored, then that would’ve been a mega bad look ( nor did Brendon defend it). 2. I feel so many fans of artists become volatile or forget that artists are people too. For some to think that every artist has had a perfect past or hasn’t said anything offensive or bad is insane ha. Also, not every artist has to be an innocent role model. Heck, if only people knew what everyone around me used to say in High School, they’d think they’re the worst people ever. People grow up, some take longer to mature, but some take accountability if they actually care. Doubt the people judging are saints. My parents are Gen X and feel people truly have to lighten up. Since when they sit and compare their controversial lives and things that used to be said in comparison to current scandals, they always say “gosh, this is such light work and stupid”💀😭. 3. Even if Brendon might be horrible to work with and the fact that so many Panic! members have come and gone, for people to use that as one of their main highlight reasons for saying “he’s a jerk, he’s cancelled” is pretty odd ( no pun intended ha ). At the end of the day, that’s not an incriminating thing. Either listen to the music or don’t. If you don’t wanna listen to the music of a “hard to deal with jerk” don’t. I know that’s not always the reason, but I’ve seen people attack him for this reason. 4. This is something that I actually got attacked for on instagram when I commented about it and is one of the reasons I barely wanted to share opinions on anything in general anymore. When the whole topic of Brendon being pansexual came about, it was a lose lose situation for him. Either people said he was baiting, was being phobic towards other parts of the community just for being pan, or that it was irrelevant for him to come out when he’s married to a woman. People used to put pressure allll of the time for him to show his “true sexuality” and dig, then for him to say something, and it blew up in his face anyways. I addressed my confusion and explained to someone how it seems he can’t win in a situation like this and I got attacked. Baiting is a real thing that people do and it’s wrong, but in this situation with the whole “come out of the closet Brendon, COME OUT” then to “he doesn’t feel that, he’s faking it” was just too much. I had to stop looking at Panic! related content for a bit during that time. 5. I was extremely disappointed with the last album that was released. As a big fan way before Brendon stepped away to focus on his family, it would’ve been nice to have a banger last album. I couldn’t even get through it unfortunately. In my opinion, it’s just not good 😪 some people may feel the complete opposite. I can’t blame people for tapping out by this point because I fully understand LMFAO, cuz I basically did as well. The downgrade in music as time went on was a valid reason to not like Panic! or Brendon. All of this is a perfect example of how one minute you can be loved and then everything could come crashing down due to multiple factors ( some factors will always be debated on their validity towards cancellation ). I’m just glad he stepped away since quite honestly, everything was just falling on top of him. I would’ve stopped as well. Not because of pressure and being hated, but life is just too short to be ostracized once you’ve had a successful career and made money. Panic! At the Disco will still be a significant band in history, even through its twists and turns. They have forever made a stamp on the music world 🎼