If others said it, then it's not just your bias, so no, it's not them lying.

As for you, it sounded like you were giving him a lot of slack because you admired him from a distance and that made you willing to endure terrible behavior in person. Hard to say how long that lasted. If you just said, then it could easily be that. If you've seen, then that means there could be a lot more going on. More likely to be a lot more going on.