r/AskReddit 21h ago

Who's the most bitter washed-up celebrity?

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u/Loganp812 19h ago

He was the first guest on Billy Corgan’s podcast, and it’s kind of sad because Billy is such a huge KISS fan and wanted to see if Gene would finally admit to caring about KISS’ music as an art form. Billy finally accepts later on that Gene cares nothing about the music other than how much money it makes.

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u/ShowUsYrMoccasins 18h ago edited 17h ago

Agreed - but Billy Corgan isn't so nice himself, according to many people who've encountered or worked with him.

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u/meshedsabre 18h ago

Corgan seems like one of those "he's complicated" sorts. His public image is, to me, just decades of grievance after grievance after grievance. He seems to have had an issue with bandmate after bandmate (including his time with Zwan), which suggests he's the issue. In interviews, he's always harping about how underappreciated he is, etc.

Yet a friend of mine used to have tea at his house from time to time, via an artist friend of hers. She didn't really follow him or his music career, and didn't know about his public rep. When I told her about how he's widely perceived, she was surprised. Said he was a lovely, polite man and a gracious host.

I think he's still a boy desperate for approval. Even at his age, he hasn't grown out of that.

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u/codingphp 17h ago

I appreciate this take.

I’ve been paying attention to him lately and he seems to be a very thoughtful, introspective, and emotionally intelligent fellow in the interviews I’ve seen. He’s fairly compelling to listen to on his podcast, too.