When a creator has a scandal, fans don't just hate them now—they actually go back and rewrite their own history of liking the work.
SSRN · March 17, 2026 · 6321500
The Takeaway
Analyzing over 8,000 reviews, this study found that when an author was hit by a moral scandal, readers didn't just give new low scores; nearly 40% of the negative feedback came from people retroactively editing their years-old reviews. This suggests that moral shocks don't just change our future preferences, but fundamentally 'recolor' our memories and past evaluations of a product.
From the abstract
On January 30, 2026, millions of records from convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein were released by the U.S. Department of Justice. Dr. Peter Attia, physician, podcaster, and author of the best-selling health book Outlive: The Science and Art of Longevity, appeared in more than 1,800 of them. That day, his life changed. But the book he wrote did not. Every sentence, every data point, every recommendation remained exactly as it had been the day before. However, the interpretive frame through wh