Still Useful Though

A lot of people don't often cut people off because they're weird or difficult. They cut them off when keeping them around stops making sense beneficially.

That person in your friendship group who does the most questionable things but they have the car, knows everyone, get's in the clubs for free and buys the bottles? Yeah, nobody's checking them about their behavior. Or that difficult colleague who rubs everyone the wrong way but keeps the business running? Nothing is done when people raise a complaint. The weirdness gets a pass because they are still useful.

Social tolerance has always been transactional.

Normally only two things can change that. Someone with equal or better leverage stepping up, or just enough people getting fed up at the same time that defending them becomes more trouble than it's worth.

P Diddy is the obvious example. And honestly, you think any of that was news to people? People knew. The behaviour didn't suddenly get worse overnight. What changed is that the numbers got too big to ignore. Too many people, too much pressure, too much legal heat. And just like that, people who were at his parties, helping apply baby oil on his back, building off his name, found their conscience.

Most people aren't waiting to figure out if something is wrong. They're watching the room, noticing which way things go, and then deciding how they feel. The usefulness doesn't just protect the difficult people. It shows you exactly who everyone around them is too.