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The next person is, for many, the greatest player in the history of
football: Diego Armando Maradona. He was born on October 30,
1960 in Villa Fiorito in Buenos Aires. He grew up in a humble family
with a dream "to be world champion with the Argentine national
team". At the age of 9 he played for Los Cebollitas de Argentinos
Juniors. Because of his talent, he was the star of the 1979 U-20
World Cup with Argentina, being world champion. Then he played
for Boca Juniors and made the leap to Europe at the age of 22,
playing for Barcelona.
After two years, he went to Napoli in Italy, where he became in his
8 years an idol and even a God. Before him, that team was one of
the worst in the Italian league, but with him, they won everything:
championship, cup, European cup and fight with the big teams. He
became a symbol in southern Italy. His best moment was in 1986,
in the World Cup. Argentina won its second World Cup, and
Maradona was the star of the tournament. June 22, 1986, was the
day Maradona became a God for Argentines. He scored two goals
against England, with the tension of the Falklands: the first "the
hand of God" and the second "the Goal of the Century".
He played in two more World Cups, in 1990 and 1994. After Napoli,
he played for Sevilla, Newells Old Boys and ended up at Boca
Juniors. Ten years later, he was coach of the Argentine national
team and of several teams. He died on November 25, 2000 but for
Argentines, Neapolitans and many fans around the world,
Maradona was more than a player, he was an idol, a God.
But Maradona's life has had several controversies. The first was in
1991, when he tested positive for the first time in an anti-doping
control. Several substances, such as cocaine, were found in his body
and confirmed his alleged links to the Italian mafia. One day, while
the situation was being resolved, Maradona shot a gun with no
bullets (only air) at some journalists who were filming him. He was
suspended for 15 months and was forced to leave Napoli. In his
career, he had two more positives, the latter being the most
famous. In a 1994 World Cup match, he tested positive and left the
World Cup, never playing for Argentina again. After his career, he
underwent treatment in Cuba to cleanse his body of the excesses of
drugs and alcohol. But during that time, he had several
controversies: his friendship with Castro and Chavez; alcohol and
drug parties and relationships with minors. In 2014, there was a
video in which he assaulted his couple, apparently under the
influence of some substance. At the 2018 World Cup, Maradona
was seen with health problems, which led to his death two years
later after head surgery.

Leaving Argentina, we return to the United States to talk about the

King of Pop: Michael Jackson. For many, the greatest singer of all
time. Michael Jackson was born on August 29, 1958 in Gary,
Indiana, United States. He was the seventh of nine siblings. At the
age of 11, he took the stage for the first time as the lead singer of
the band The Jacksons 5 along with his brothers. Since childhood he
has become a figure in music and a famous character.
In the late 1970s, he split from the band to become a solo artist,
where he showed all his talent and became a musical legend. He
was famous in 1983 when he released what is still the best selling
album in history: Thriller, with songs like Thriller, Billie Jean or Beat
It. In his whole career he won 13 Grammy awards, he has several
songs as gold and platinum record. In the 80s he became the King
of Pop, a nickname that, until today, nobody else had. He was the
star of the 1995 Super Bowl, was in several movies, filled stadiums
and stages on every continent and marked a before and after in
music history. There are still singers who say they are inspired by
him and that he is their role model. He has millions of fans all over
the world, still after 12 years since his death on June 25, 2009.
He was known for his social and humane character. Neverland
Ranch was an amusement park just for children. He says the ranch
was the place for them to "feel like Peter Pan, they never grew up";
he donated to various foundations and participated in international
campaigns, such as the song "We are the World". He has traveled
all over the world, several times for charitable causes, such as when
he recorded the song "They Don't Care About Us" in a favela in
Brazil. In the favela, there are murals of him and people still admire
him. Worldwide, he is loved by his fans.
But fame has two sides. Jackson also had several controversies that
are still being discussed. The first in his life was his drastic skin
change: he went from black to completely white. He went through
many surgeries to reach this change, he became another person.
This change transformed his face (especially his nose), genreing
vitiligo and harmed his health. Another controversy was his private
life, where there was always the mystery about his children and his
marriages. He secretly married Lisa Maria Presley, daughter of Elvis
Presley, but after 20 months, they separated. He had 3 children but
the identity of the mother was a secret, he would put masks on his
children when they went out and give his children a bottle with a
blanket over their face. There was also a rumor that the children
were born from artificial insemination and he never had sex in any
marriage.
In 2002, a controversial event happened. In a hotel during a trip to
Berlin, from the balcony, Jackson showed his baby son, Blancket .
But he almost fell off the balcony, so he was caught on camera by
the paparazzi. His relationship with his father, Joe Jackson, was also
controversial. He allegedly over exploited all the members of the
Jacksons 5, to the point of sexual abuse. Michael had a difficult
relationship with his father, for these reasons. He once said that his
father "took away his manhood", talking about the abuse that he
committed. Many people say that it was because of that childhood
that Michael Jackson had controversies when he grew up.
In 1993, happened the most controversial event of his life: the first
report of sexual abuse. Evan Chandler, who was 13 years old at the
time, along with his parents, reported the King of Pop for child
sexual abuse. Jackson and Chandler became friends at Neverland
Ranch, but, as they claim, Jackson would overdo it with the
children, touching their private parts and engaging in abusive
behavior, but saying it was normal. After this allegation, there were
two other allegations with similar situations and times (in the 90s).
But Jackson was innocent in all cases. In 2019, HBO presented a
documentary called "Leaving Neverland", where children told the
whole abuse situation with Michael Jackson. This situation cost the
artist millions of dollars, including leaving Neverland Ranch in debt
after his death.
The last controversy he had was the day of his death. The autopsy
showed that his body had been in bad shape for a long time, due to
skin changes and drug addiction. Supposedly, his doctor, Conrad
Murray, gave him an overdose that caused his cardiac arrest.

The last case is one of the most famous vallenato singers:

Diomedes Díaz. He was born on May 26, 1957 in San Juan del Cesar.
Since he was a child he sang and had friends who were troubadours
at La Junta. When he was in high school, he met Rafael Orozco, who
was the first person to say his nickname "El Cacique de la Junta".
He worked at Radio Guatarrupi, where he began to get to know
various artists. The first album he released was De Amor, which was
a great success, with over 600 thousand units sold. At that time, he
paid 45 million pesos to have a diamond tooth.
In the 80s he was with the accordionist El Cocha Molina, where he
made several of his best songs, like Sin Medir Distancias , Bonita, Tu
eres la reina or Mi primera cana. In his career, he sold more than
200 million records and built a fan base called "diomedistas". He
has won awards in Colombia and abroad, such as the CBS
Venezuela gold record and the Latin Grammy 2010.
For vallenato fans, especially on the Colombian coast, Diomedes is
an idol for the people because he came from a humble village and
has always been close to his fans.
Controversies were also in the singer's life. The most complicated
controversy was the alleged murder of Doris Adriana Niño. On May
15, 1997, Doris was found dead in a river, just hours after she had
been with Diomedes. The night before, she had found herself in the
singer's apartment in Bogotá. The investigation of the Fiscalía and
Forensic Medicine, say that there was a lot of alcohol and drugs at
the party, as well as several men who tried, along with Diomedes,
to force sexual relations with her. Inside the apartment, allegedly,
Doris was murdered and the singer's bodyguards took her body to a
river. Diaz was sentenced to 12 years in prison, but the sentence
was reduced to 3 years and 7 months under house arrest.
When Diaz was released from prison, he was welcomed in
Valledupar and the Junta as a hero at large. In 1998, Diaz's body
went numb and he was diagnosed with Guillain-Barré syndrome.
The reasons for this were the artist's excessive use of cocaine, a
substance he consumed on stage and mixed with alcohol at parties.
His health and physical changes were impaired by these excesses.
His children and wives were another controversy that he had, until
after his death there were people who claimed to be children of the
singer. In total, he had 11 wives and 28 recognized children, some
of whom, like Rafael Santos and Martin Elías, were singers. He had
his first daughter when he was a teenager in 1969. Another
controversy was his manner on stage, allegedly due to excessive
drinking, rudeness and womanizing. Diaz died on December 22,
2013, on the eve of the Christmas holidays, from cardiac arrest
after being at a party.

With these cases, we find a pattern: artistic - or public - life and

private life. The celebrities we show have had a great world
recognition for what they did: acting, singing or playing a sport;
standing out above the rest, having many fans around the world,
making a mark in a certain time and being figures in what they did.
But they have also had a private life surrounded by controversies
and situations, which are criticized and are morally and ethically
frowned upon by some people.
That's why we want to hear your opinions with this question: . That
is, whether the controversies of their private lives break and
destroy all their fame and they should stop being idols, or, on the
contrary, the two things are separate and they should continue to
be seen as idols for millions of people. What do you think?