Do we like Leonard Cohen?
Our score: 7 out of 10. A decent record with no harmful words found, but the sources I read are thin on what he said about LGBTQ+ people and the planet.
Cohen was a Montreal-born poet and novelist who turned to songwriting in the 1960s. He gave the world Suzanne, Sisters of Mercy and Hallelujah, and he died in November 2016 aged 82. He is the sort of songwriter people already love before they ask whether they should.
The big drama of his life was about money. Cohen sued his former business manager Kelley Lynch in 2005, alleging she had siphoned about $5 million from his accounts, and a judge awarded him a $9.5 million default judgment after she failed to respond. He said he was left with a small nest egg. It is a story of a man being cleaned out, not of him doing the cleaning.
The aftermath got ugly. In 2012 Lynch was found guilty of harassing Cohen and of breaching restraining orders. Hundreds of abusive voicemails and emails were read out in court, including one saying he should be shot. Her lawyer argued it was a case about messy relationships. Cohen was the target here, and he returned to touring in 2008 partly to rebuild his finances.
On the harm test, I found no harmful words from Cohen on LGBTQ+ people, women, migrants or the planet. No campaigning, no conspiracy theories, no dodgy company. The sources I read are thin on what he said on those topics, and that is honestly the whole list. He told SPIN he doesn't pretend to have the answers and is not saved, which is a refreshing change from preachy celebrities.
The recent stoush is his estate versus Donald Trump. Ahead of the 24 June 2026 Great American State Fair opening, the estate said the use of Hallelujah at the event was not authorised and that it does not support or approve of that use or any similar one. The song was performed anyway, and the article notes Trump has kept using it at other events despite the estate's opposition. These are the estate's words, not Cohen's, so that is a fight about his song and not a verdict on his own views.
The good stuff is real. For his 2009 Tel Aviv concert, Cohen offered to also play in the West Bank and set up a foundation to hand the proceeds to Israeli-Palestinian peace groups. His manager said most would go to a joint group of bereaved families. Some Palestinian activists urged him to cancel in a boycott campaign, and others saw a peace gesture, so where you land depends on which of those you take it to be.