It has been surreal to watch several of my early heroes become "villains"
Matt Taibbi: got turned on to him after insightful reporting after 2009 (remember Goldman Sachs as giant squid) -- but controversial today
Andrew Sullivan: The Dish was an early blog from the bush years -- but controversial today
Steven Pinker: I read a lot of books by him ("How the mind works", "The language instinct"), when I was curious about different theories of mind and learning -- but, again, controversial today
So yes, the perceptions of things change over time, sometimes in quite drastic ways.
P.S. In case it isn't obvious, they're not villains to me