we let really smart or really rich or really famous people get away with that shit anyways.

This. I think people overlook his behavior because despite the fact he was an unrelenting asshole, he also did (and continues to do) a lot of good for the world. He supposedly has also made an attempt to address it via anger management classes, though I’m not up to date on how that went.

Of course, why rich and famous people get away with it is another story, but their supporters ignore the terrible behavior for similar reasons.