If Dave Grohl’s infidelity has proven us something, it is that parasocial relationships with musicians are poisonous and that we as followers typically set unrealistic expectations of them.

The rock world was shocked when the Foo Fighters frontman launched an announcement in September saying the start of a new child daughter outdoors of his marriage.

“I plan to be a loving and supportive parent to her. I love my wife and my children, and I am doing everything I can to regain their trust and earn their forgiveness. We’re grateful for your consideration toward all the children involved, as we move forward together,” he wrote.

The identities of each the mom and the daughter have not been disclosed, although somebody shared a social media submit of a child that went viral as a result of the person claimed that it was Grohl’s daughter. A rep on behalf of the rocker denied that that specific child was his.

And that is simply half of the issue.

Below, we break down how followers reacted to Grohl’s information, what we have to bear in mind about musicians and celebrities, what different rumors have come out about Grohl’s relationships and the way parasocial connections will be harmful.

How Fans Reacted to Grohl’s News

As with any massive information within the rock world, there was a blended bag of reactions, besides this information prolonged past the scope of the rock world. People shared memes and jokes on-line, others expressed shock and disappointment in a humorous manner and the remaining appeared outright distraught and disgusted.

The overwhelming majority of reactions shared the same sentiment, although — that it was private to them.

“Why do I feel personally betrayed by Dave Grohl,” one individual wrote.

“Have never felt deeper parasocial betrayal than Dave Grohl cheating on his wife,” one other fan wrote.

What Is a Parasocial Relationship?

Find a Psychologist defines parasocial relationships as “one-sided relationships, where one person extends emotional energy, interest and time and the other party, the persona, is completely unaware of the other’s existence.”

Parasocial relationships are sometimes fashioned by followers of celebrities, whether or not they’re actors, athletes, musicians and even bloggers and influencers. People preserve parasocial relationships by holding updated with the person’s social media platforms and different web sites that present information and updates about them.

The Resilience Lab additional elaborates on the different sorts of parasocial relationships, claiming that there are three classes:

• The first, known as “entertainment-social,” are extra informal and for leisure functions solely.
• The second, “intense-personal,” contain a deeper connection that may begin to influence the fan’s private life.
• And, lastly, the “borderline-pathological” — excessive parasocial relationships that may result in stalking, violence and different kinds of aggression.

Grohl’s Image as ‘The Nicest Guy in Rock’

Many different fan reactions advised that Grohl was speculated to be the “nicest guy in rock,” insinuating that as a result of of his charity work and sometimes welcoming character with followers, that he is not succesful of committing adultery.

What We Need to Remember

Rock stars and different public figures are people, similar to the remaining of us. They want oxygen, sleep, meals and water to outlive. They contract sicknesses and a few battle with psychological well being struggles. Many of them have shut members of the family and mates.

As music followers, we unconsciously have a tendency to put our favourite musicians on pedestals and have unrealistic expectations of them. Therefore, the frustration hits more durable for some followers when the musician does or says one thing we might even see as morally incorrect, even when we do not know the entire state of affairs at hand.

And we typically do not. These people aren’t required to share each element of their private lives in order that followers can have closure over what occurred. We do not know the rationale Grohl selected to publicly disclose his affair and new child daughter and we do not know every other particulars about his relationship with the mom of the child or his spouse.

All we all know is what he wrote within the assertion.

What We Do Know About Grohl’s Relationships

Now that we have gotten some followers reactions and essential reminders out of the best way, we will get into the small print of what we do find out about Grohl’s romantic life.

The rocker was first married to Jennifer Youngblood, however the couple divorced in 1997 after he admitted to being untrue to her [via The Guardian]. Thus, his latest affair was not his first.

Grohl married Jordyn Blum in 2003 and so they have three daughters collectively — Violet (18), Harper (15) and Ophelia (10).

A brand new report by People states that people inside Grohl’s inside circle apparently weren’t stunned when he introduced he had a new child daughter earlier this month.

READ MORE: When Fans Get Too Obsessed

“Dave’s flirty behavior has been a hurdle in their marriage. It’s been hurtful to Jordyn,” a buddy of Blum stated, although they famous that she was nonetheless shocked when she realized of the child.

“We keep reading over and over again how heartbroken everyone is because Dave was supposed to be the ‘good guy,’ the rockstar that didn’t have to do those rockstar things,” another source admitted. “And people are crazy about the guy, but there is a rockstar side.”

Other Rumors About Grohl

A source told Daily Mail that Grohl was reportedly jealous of Blum’s “hot” tennis coach, Christopher Crabb, and claims that he accused her of flirting with Crabb before he shared the news of his newborn daughter.

“Dave Grohl has been jealous for ages about Jordyn’s hot tennis coach,” the source shared. “They’ve had arguments about him, and Dave thinks they’ve flirted. Jordyn has told him he’s crazy to even think that. But Dave has persisted.”

Another report by The New York Post claims that Grohl had a relationship with a 40-year-old woman named Annaliese Neilsen, who ran a porn website in Los Angeles. Neilsen’s roommate, Tyler Ammons, recalled being shocked after finding Grohl on their shared living room couch in 2018.

“It was very weird. They were very close on the couch. I obviously knew who he was when I walked in,” Ammons described. “I felt uncomfortable knowing he has family and children and I left.”

Ammons alleged that the relationship between Neilsen and Grohl continued into at least 2019 and that she went on tour with him and Foo Fighters around that time. However, she denied having an affair with the rock star.

“That is a person who I had a brief friendship with who I know through friends of friends,” Neilsen told The Post. “I have nothing to say except for that is absolutely false.”

This Highlights a Bigger Problem within the Entertainment World

As we said earlier, musicians and celebrities are simply individuals, and other people typically make errors. What occurs between Grohl and Blum and their household consequently of his latest information is their enterprise, not ours.

Social media has given everybody a platform and the power to voice their opinions, so anytime something occurs, we now have entry to numerous views and criticisms.

But is it truthful to anticipate celebrities, or anybody with a “following,” to do and say the suitable factor on a regular basis?

Sure, these people might have some affect on a gaggle of individuals. But to ask them to continually touch upon the happenings of the world, be a mannequin citizen and be good all of the time, apologize for each mishap that was dug up from their previous and share each element of their lives that followers really feel they’re entitled to know looks as if it could be crossing the road a bit.

In many instances, it would not really feel like artwork is simply being appreciated as artwork anymore. There is a deeper degree to all the pieces. Musicians and bands are condemned for collaborating and touring with different artists that will have totally different views and beliefs from them. Rock stars really feel the necessity to make statements on why they selected to tour with one other group, even when it is vitally clearly helpful for his or her profession.

Some youthful artists are even stepping away from social media altogether consequently of how intrusive it could possibly change into — comparable to Bad Omens’ Noah Sebastian, who deactivated his private accounts final December.

“I got really tired of seeing my own face, or seeing a stranger’s opinion of me every day. I don’t think that’s healthy. I’ve seen these accounts that collect baby pictures of me they find on a distant relative’s Facebook and make an entire shrine out of them,” the frontman said during an interview with Metal Hammer.

Chappell Roan is an example of a young musician with an even bigger platform (as she is part of the pop world) who’s addressed the invasive behavior of some fans.

“I don’t care that abuse and harassment, stalking, whatever, is a normal thing to do to people who are famous or a little famous,” she stated in a TikTok video. “I do not care that this kind of conduct comes together with the job, the profession subject I’ve chosen.”

“It’s bizarre how individuals assume that you realize an individual simply since you see them on-line otherwise you hearken to the artwork they make. That’s fucking bizarre,” she continued. “I’m allowed to say no to creepy conduct.”

If fans are going to make the argument that art cannot be separated from the artist, then fans need to accept that artists are just normal humans with normal emotions — and are allowed to have normal boundaries.