Do we like Elton John?
Our score: 8 out of 10. He backs his causes with real money and has taken on a world leader over gay rights, with only a few ordinary stoushes on the other side.
Nothing new on him lately that changes the picture. The most recent reporting we could open is about the Elton John AIDS Foundation's Oscars viewing party in March 2026, plus plans for a Rock in Rio headline slot in September. Honest gap: we couldn't open a solid page for his early life, so this column sticks to the record we could read.
The charity side is the real stuff. The Foundation's 34th annual Oscars viewing party, held on 15 March 2026, raised $10.6 million. The money is earmarked for expanding HIV prevention and treatment services and for fighting discrimination against people affected by HIV. That is a long way from a celebrity turning up for a photo.
On the harm check, he comes out well. In 2019, after Vladimir Putin told the Financial Times that liberalism had outlived its purpose, Elton replied publicly. He said he strongly disagreed and called the Russian stance hypocrisy, pointing to gay scenes cut from Rocketman there. Putin answered that Elton was deluding himself, so it cost him a public spat with a head of state.
He can also swing a bat when he's cross. In May 2025, on BBC One, he took aim at the UK government's AI copyright plans for artists. He called the plans a criminal offence and the government absolute losers. He also called the technology secretary a bit of a moron. That's blunt, but the target was a policy that squeezes young artists, not a vulnerable group.
On the legal side, there is nothing that sticks. In 2016 a Los Angeles police captain who had worked as his off-duty bodyguard sued, alleging groping and suggestive comments. Elton strongly denied it, and his lawyer called the suit baseless. Separately, his ex-wife sued in 2020, claiming his memoir and the film Rocketman broke a divorce agreement, and the dispute settled with no admission and no terms made public.
So, verdict: the harm test is a pass with distinction, since the record shows him standing against anti-LGBTQ+ policy and funding HIV work. The good-person test is a pass, because the legal skirmishes are either denied or settled and don't add up to a pattern. A few tabloid whispers about his temper are exactly that, tabloid territory, and we left them out.