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Overshadowed By Controversy Cleanup

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Overshadowed by Controversy has several examples, particularly under the Fan Works, Webcomics, and Web Original folders, that don't fit the trope as described. The controversy is supposed to overshadow the work, so if it doesn't do that it shouldn't count as a valid example.

The media folders, such as Anime or Western Animation, could also use a look, as some entries deal with shows, while others deal with actors, fans, or creators. Additionally, some of the entries are not controversial anymore or are not known enough to overshadow the show completely, and others seem closer to Never Live It Down.

Some examples even point out that the controversy was debunked or died down eventually, which doesn't fit the trope, as well as examples saying things like "time will tell if [x] can recover." I originally tried the Real-Life cleanup section, and then a TRS thread, but I hope this is the right section to help us clean up this trope's examples. ^^

MOD NOTE: For something to be overshadowed by controversy; it has to have a significant, arguably overwhelming impact on that work/creator/thing that’s provable by pointing to actual evidence beyond social media likes or a news report. The controversy has to be bigger than the thing for it to overshadow the thing.

For a work, did it bomb directly due to the controversy? Was it pulled from shelves or streaming services? Nothing like this? Then it most likely doesn’t count.

For a creator, did they lose their job/get banned or lose all of their sponsorships or are unable to get any work directly due to the controversy? Did they at least retire directly because of the controversy? Nothing like this? Then it most likely doesn’t count.

Valid examples would be people like Gina Carano or Louie CK. As they were both fired and black listed for their controversies. Or Johnny Depp and Amber Heard are now more known for those controversies than their actual careers. Clearly being overshadowed by it.

If only chronically online people like us are going to be aware of something, it definitely doesn’t count. The controversy has to be so big that even people who are rarely online or know very little about something, would still have heard of the controversy.

Edited by kory on Oct 4th 2025 at 10:21:54 AM

PlasmaPower Piece of Cake. Since: Jan, 2015
Piece of Cake.
#1926: Jul 17th 2021 at 7:41:14 AM

I'm not sure about that movie being controversial, isn't that saying that it's controversial for being bad? Dosen't everyone agree on the film being offensive?

Its subject matter was always going to be brought up when discussing the film.

Edited by PlasmaPower on Jul 17th 2021 at 11:43:40 AM

Thomas fans needed! Come join me in the the show's cleanup thread!
mightymewtron Word Up from New New York Since: Oct, 2012 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Word Up
#1927: Jul 17th 2021 at 7:52:14 AM

I think the reason it's not just controversial for being bad is that the casting issues and Sia's online rant about the backlash was the nail in the coffin for most people. The film being bad only emphasized what was already suspected. Plus, even a movie with stereotypical autism could, hypothetically, not be OBC.

Edited by mightymewtron on Jul 17th 2021 at 10:52:31 AM

I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
Zuxtron Berserk Button: misusing Nightmare Fuel from Node 03 (On A Trope Odyssey)
#1928: Jul 17th 2021 at 11:01:38 AM

Yeah. No one ever talks about the main plot of Kazu trying to escape from her job as a drug dealer, or her relationship with Ebo. It's doomed to be forever known as "that one movie with the offensive autistic stereotype played by a neurotypical actress, that made Sia delete her Twitter account because of how much everyone hated it".

themayorofsimpleton Short-Term Projects Herald | he/him from the Island of Koridai (Captain) Relationship Status: I won't say I'm in love
Short-Term Projects Herald | he/him
#1929: Jul 17th 2021 at 11:51:44 AM

Music (2021) is controversial not because of it being bad (although it is widely regarded as terrible), but because of the stunningly offensive and clueless portrayal of autism and the director Sia's miserable attempts at responding to it online. That overshadowed the rest of the movie, and even overshadowed other controversial things about it like Ebo, the main black character in the film being interpreted as a Magical Negro.

Edited by themayorofsimpleton on Jul 17th 2021 at 2:52:04 PM

Works That Require Cleanup of Complaining | Troper Wall
HamburgerTime Since: Apr, 2010
#1930: Jul 17th 2021 at 9:27:57 PM

So here's some famous musicians I think might fit, and for bonus points actually meet the literal definition of "controversial," namely multiple equally strong viewpoints, rather than just using it as a synonym for "universally condemned."

  • Chuck Berry. Up there with Elvis and Buddy as one of the granddaddies of rock and roll, certainly, but when he's discussed I tend to see at least a mention of his pedophilia conviction, and the still-raging-to-this-day debate over whether the charge was accurate or a racially-motivated scapegoating.
  • Going back a century, Stephen Foster, the founder of American folk music. As is typical of folk songs his tunes have had dozens of versions spring up over 150+ years, but the originals of many of his biggest hits, such as "Suwanee River" and "The Blue-tailed Fly," were sung from the perspective of a caricatured and happy black slave. Cue debate over whether every version of these songs is tainted or not.

Thoughts?

mightymewtron Word Up from New New York Since: Oct, 2012 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Word Up
#1931: Jul 17th 2021 at 9:34:53 PM

My first thought on the Berry entry was assuming it was about whether Elvis stole his credit, then my second thought was "Chuck Berry was accused of pedophilia?" so that probably doesn't overshadow him.

I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
bowserbros No longer active. from Elsewhere Since: May, 2014
No longer active.
#1932: Jul 18th 2021 at 10:25:48 AM

[up]If anything, Jerry Lee Lewis (who's already on the OBC page for music) applies more for the "early rocker overshadowed by pedophilia accusations" thing considering there was a whole movie about it (though in his case, "accusations" is putting it very lightly). Meanwhile with Chuck Berry I haven't heard people bring up his personal scandals nearly as much, not even after he died; most mentions I heard of him both before and after his passing depicted him as simply a famous black rock star from the genre's first wave.

Edited by bowserbros on Jul 18th 2021 at 5:00:03 AM

Be kind.
Siegfried1337 Calabash. from The Eastern Luminant Since: Sep, 2018 Relationship Status: Will you go out with me to the End?
Calabash.
#1933: Jul 18th 2021 at 11:58:10 PM

Coming from ATT, and- surprise, surprise: YMMV.The Last Of Us Part II is in another edit war, and this about Overshadowed by Controversy being added to the YMMV page, which then resulted in a edit war, as far as I heard.

Eh, good enough.
Larkmarn Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Hello, I love you
#1934: Jul 19th 2021 at 7:17:33 AM

Same shit, different shovel. The game is too big to be overshadowed by pretty much anything unless it begins setting P S5s on fire.

Regarding Fan4stic, I would phrase it by leading with "Early into production it seemed like the film would be overshadowed by the controversial Race Lift of Johnny Storm, but the movie's Troubled Production eventually overshadowed that controversy as well as any discourse about the film..."

Found a Youtube Channel with political stances you want to share? Hop on over to this page and add them.
SkylaNoivern Since: Sep, 2016
#1935: Jul 23rd 2021 at 9:12:09 AM

This edit to Michael Jackson's entry on Music might be worth checking out, as someone added links to videos in favor of the notion that the pedophilia allegations are false, which definitely feels like a ROCEJ violation.

Edited by SkylaNoivern on Jul 23rd 2021 at 5:12:33 PM

bowserbros No longer active. from Elsewhere Since: May, 2014
No longer active.
#1936: Jul 23rd 2021 at 12:35:49 PM

[up]Yeah, that seems really shady; combine that with a Wall of Text and a possible List of Transgressions-style structure, it's looking in need of a rewrite, if not an axing altogether given that analysts still focus on his impact and influence as a musician. If the point does stay, cut the YouTube links and distill it to describe the child molestation claims, as that comes the closest to actually overshadowing his work compared to everything else.

Edited by bowserbros on Jul 23rd 2021 at 12:36:08 PM

Be kind.
SkylaNoivern Since: Sep, 2016
#1937: Jul 23rd 2021 at 3:38:41 PM

I tried giving it a more neutral rewrite:

  • Michael Jackson's career has went through an interesting loop with this. From 1986 until his death, his reputation became eclipsed by several allegations of child molestation. After he was acquitted of allegedly molesting a young boy in 2005 (he'd previously reached financial settlements with other accusers' families, and thus didn't go to trial in those cases), his public image improved slightly, and after his sudden death in 2009, he was praised as a musical genius, innovator and trendsetter. However, the child molestation accusations still lurked in the background, which culminated in the 2019 documentary Leaving Neverland bringing them back into the spotlight and creating a massive divide as to whether or not the allegations are true.

bowserbros No longer active. from Elsewhere Since: May, 2014
No longer active.
#1938: Jul 23rd 2021 at 5:07:25 PM

[up]Most of it sounds good, though it could still use a bit of further polishing:


  • Michael Jackson's career went through an interesting loop with this. From 1993 until his death, his reputation was eclipsed by allegations of child molestation. His public image improved slightly after being acquitted in court on a second charge in 2005note , and after his death in 2009, he became praised again as an innovative and trendsetting musician. However, the allegations still lurked in the background, culminating in a new wave of claims in the 2019 documentary Leaving Neverland, which created a massive divide regarding their veracity.

The first allegation came out in 1993, and a few more rewrites were done to better reflect the timeline of events and make things more concise.

Edited by bowserbros on Jul 23rd 2021 at 5:56:22 AM

Be kind.
DDRMASTERM do you wanna have a bad time? from Someplace, Utah, USA Since: Apr, 2013 Relationship Status: You cannot grasp the true form
do you wanna have a bad time?
#1939: Jul 23rd 2021 at 8:09:53 PM

[up] Seems good.

nrjxll Since: Nov, 2010 Relationship Status: Not war
#1940: Jul 23rd 2021 at 11:11:00 PM

[up][up]The one thing I'm sort of uncertain about here - how 'cyclic' was it, really? Because I remember there being a major backlash to his postmortem near-deification (less from people who thought for sure he was guilty, IIRC, and more just about the hypocrisy of the overnight flip), but it's possible that I'm getting distorted by my own personal opinions here.

mightymewtron Word Up from New New York Since: Oct, 2012 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Word Up
#1941: Jul 23rd 2021 at 11:38:23 PM

I was a kid at the time so I didn't really get the gist of the allegations back then, but I remember a huge Posthumous Popularity Potential for Jackson in 2009, and the allegations were still joked about a lot but it didn't actually affect his estate as much as it did in 2019, when stations and TV shows started to remove content related to him.

Edited by mightymewtron on Jul 23rd 2021 at 2:38:37 PM

I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
SkylaNoivern Since: Sep, 2016
#1942: Jul 24th 2021 at 3:36:50 PM

Should I replace the current entry with that one citing this thread? EDIT: Given the general consensus seems to be in favor of changing the entry, I'll do it citing this thread.

Edited by SkylaNoivern on Jul 25th 2021 at 10:42:55 AM

SkylaNoivern Since: Sep, 2016
#1943: Jul 26th 2021 at 9:11:31 AM

This recently-added entry to Web Original:

  • A YouTuber by the name of Nikocado Avocado is a living embodiment of this trope, and it's not because of one moment that was extremely controversial, but because of how much controversy he faces in just a year. For instance, he is known for his toxic relationship with his husband Orlin, extremely clickbait-y videos, his Sanity Slippage presumably from his extreme weight gain (as evidenced by this bizarre video), and a video where he (intentional or not) mocked Kobe Bryant's death by mispronouncing his name. However, the biggest one Nikocado Avocado was accused of was from his former Mukbang community friend Stephanie Soo for doxxing on her and spying on her when she was having a mental breakdown. Not only did this prompt Nikocado Avocado to make a response video, but also caused the entire Mukbang community to fall in jeopardy because of his behavior. While his response video was long and did cover most of her addressed issues, the dislike ratio overshadowed the other one. Furthermore, all other Mukbang YouTubers who were involved with Nikocado Avocado quickly severed their ties with him, leaving him unable to make a collab video. No wonder why many people are covering him on their video.

I'm not saying that Nikocado isn't a controversial person, but this leads like a very speculative List of Transgressions (the weight gain assumption and Kobe Bryant), and the writing style just feels very casual and opinionated ("no wonder why").

Theatre_Maven_3695 from Ontario, Canada (4 Score & 7 Years Ago) Relationship Status: Oh my word! I'm gay!
#1944: Jul 26th 2021 at 9:33:08 AM

[up] I say nuke the whole thing. Sanity Slippage and Formerly Fit are both NRLEP.

mightymewtron Word Up from New New York Since: Oct, 2012 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Word Up
#1945: Jul 26th 2021 at 9:35:53 AM

These entries really need to explain what the channel's supposed to be about so we know what's being overshadowed.

I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
Serac she/her (Troper Knight) Relationship Status: Oh my word! I'm gay!
she/her
#1946: Jul 26th 2021 at 1:13:06 PM

The entry implies that he mostly makes mukbang videos, which essentially involve the person eating lunch in front of the camera and talking to the viewer about various things.

SkylaNoivern Since: Sep, 2016
#1947: Jul 28th 2021 at 4:33:23 PM

[up] Having heard the name before, I did a quick bit of research. Avocado grew in popularity around 2017 to 2019 for his mukbang videos and for his friendly and relatable demeanor. In late 2019, another mukbang Youtuber made a video accusing Avocado of abusive behavior and harassing her, which resulted in the two fighting and Avocado's reputation souring, losing 10,000 subscribers in a single day. Since then Avocado has become better known for being accused of using his mental health issues to clickbait and for supposedly being in a toxic relationship with his husband Orlin.

Edited by SkylaNoivern on Jul 28th 2021 at 12:33:51 PM

PlasmaPower Piece of Cake. Since: Jan, 2015
Piece of Cake.
#1948: Jul 28th 2021 at 8:25:26 PM

Sorry to derail the current subject, but would Dream be eligible for a OBC entry by now? I forgot if 6 months has passed since the accusations were first thrown, but he seems to be mainly be known for the Minecraft cheating scandal than anything else he does nowadays. I have never ever heard of the dude until that controversy popped up.

Edited by PlasmaPower on Jul 28th 2021 at 12:26:07 PM

Thomas fans needed! Come join me in the the show's cleanup thread!
mightymewtron Word Up from New New York Since: Oct, 2012 Relationship Status: THIS CONCEPT OF 'WUV' CONFUSES AND INFURIATES US!
Word Up
#1949: Jul 28th 2021 at 9:32:47 PM

I mostly know him for trending on Twitter every other day and having a rabid fanbase. But the "Dream cheated his speedrun" thing does seem to be the most mainstream meme thing about him.

I do some cleanup and then I enjoy shows you probably think are cringe.
Delibirda from Splatsville Since: Sep, 2020 Relationship Status: I wanna be your dog
#1950: Jul 28th 2021 at 11:10:05 PM

He also tried to manipulate the mob vote during Minecraft Live. I know that, 'cuz we had a discussion about weather to keep that on the Minecraft Wiki.

"Listen up, Marina, because this is SUPER important. Whatever you do, don't eat th“ “DON'T EAT WHAT?! Your text box ran out of space!”

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