I grew up worshipping Robert Parish and Larry Bird. Later on, information came out showing or strongly suggesting that Parish was a wife-beater and Bird was a deadbeat dad.
As a young adult, I respected Bill Clinton. Later on, I learned about how he sold our nation down the river while colluding with criminals and oppressing people.
About a decade ago, I became a journalist and thought for a while that it was overwhelmingly an honorable profession. Eventually, I figured out that this was, at best, an outdated perception.
All you can really do is take off the rose-colored glasses and keep your eyes open for people truly worthy of immense respect. They're out there, and some of them are athletes, politicians and journalists.
All this was said superbly. There are no rose colored glasses, as you say. EVERYONE in our world says or does something that they look back on and wish they'd not done. You try to make amends, move on, and do your best to do what you think is right. I'd hope Gary has done the same, just like I'd hope a lot of people have when they make a bad decision in life.