just in response in particular to the “one bad apple…” line, the saying is “one bad apple spoils the whole barrel”, so I’m not sure that’s the analogy the author wants here.

personally, I think that basically every artist or creator ever has most likely had some or other sordid secret (or not so secret). with that in mind, separating art from artist becomes an absolute necessity. certainly their attitudes must influence their work in some way or other, but you aren’t required to accept every part of the whole, and just because a creative work has some questionable or downright disgusting elements doesn’t mean the whole must be entirely bereft of worth.

Of course, when it turns out that a living artist is a garbage person, you might feel more compelled to shun their creation as a moral statement or to deny profit to someone who plainly doesn’t deserve it. but literally “buying into” an author’s work is not the only way to consume it, and if you refuse to engage with them in a way that gives them unwarranted attention and/or plainly express disdain for their problematic attitudes, I think you can still be consuming ethically.