By Tomi Peh (26S06P)

“Separating the art from the artist” is a famous moral dilemma that has long been the topic of debate when casting judgement on art. It presents itself so commonly and is so entwined in the way we view art in fact, even in the process of writing this article, a fresh, prime example of this dilemma seemingly materialised out of nowhere – popular music artist, David Anthony Burke.

David Anthony Burke, better known by his stage name ‘d4vd‘, is a well-acclaimed alternative/indie pop artist, rising to fame around July of 2022 with his song titled “Romantic Homicide”, which currently sits at around 1.7 billion streams on Spotify. 

Controversy struck, when the deceased body of 15 year-old Celeste Rivas Hernandez was found in the trunk of David’s car. It didn’t take long for bits and pieces of evidence of a relation between David and Celeste to begin surfacing on the internet, which prompted a multitude of different accusations upon David, including serious allegations of murder and having an illicit relationship with the 15 year-old. Many fans now view him in a completely different light— the thought that the music they were listening to might be in reference to the now-deceased Celeste lingers in the back of their minds.

But this is not the first time a popular music artist has come under fire from the masses due to their actions.