Before the #MeToo movement there was a slow ramp of scandals about celebrities and for a while there every time someone posted about Fred I would recite a little litany in my head,
Pleasebegoodpleasebegoodpleasebegood
That went into overdrive after the first rumors about Bill Cosby started up. And then by John Lassiter I was a momentary wreck every time Fred made the news.
Fred Rogers has been gone long enough now that I’m more confident that he was genuinely the Nice Guy his public image paints him to be. Of course Fred Rogers sued the KKK.
Arsenio Hall had Fred on the first run of his talk show. He was agog. Major hero worship. Ended up gifting him a copy of his signature jacket. Which was even bigger on Fred than it was on Arsenio.
A better example would be Jimmy Saville, Larry Nassar, and the leaders of the Catholic Church, people who intentionally worked with children to create an opportunity to rape them.
She passed away last year, but I remember her doing some press the last few years, and was always delightful. She seemed a little mischievous in a way that seemed like it would have offset Fred's near-saintly disposition.
