This is actually a serious question asked out of curiosity:

I totally get not liking Coldplay’s music for whatever reason, whether it’s just not your thing or it’s too poppy or overplayed or what have you. But what I really don’t get is why the people that don’t care for them (and some other bands too, and celebrities that some people aren’t fans of but are ultimately pretty benign) act like the band members personally ran over their grandmother, kidnapped their pet dog, or peed on their country’s flag AS WELL AS ate the last cookie out of the jar when you had it saved. 

I hear so often that Chris Martin is a total jerk. I know I’m biased, but even if I wasn’t a big fan and didn’t ~know~ them, I still think the last type of vibe I’d get from him is “jerk” or “douche” or whatever your word of choice is based on interviews or TV appearances. Maybe kind of dweeby and sincere (which I don’t think is a front or put on at all, that’s exactly what he’s like in person as well), but assholish? I know people have complaints about Kings Of Leon, for example, because they, or some of the members, occasionally have said off-color things publicly, especially via Twitter. I am a fan of theirs as well, I just recognize that some of the things they’ve said are kind of problematic and like the music anyway. If you don’t feel their music and were off-put by something questionable they’ve said, I think that’s a perfectly reasonable complaint against them. I think the flak they get is extreme, but whatever. But Coldplay, I honestly can’t bring to mind a single problematic thing they’ve said that would merit the vitriol they get on a personal level. 

So the question is, am I missing something or is being a very successful pop-rock band with a kind of excitable and overgrown-child frontman really just publicly unacceptable these days?