When you read someones writings or follow the things they do but don't actually KNOW them, it's very easy to get sucked into a sort of 'larger-than-life' belief about them.

Because they're famous (and they must be famous because you've heard of them), they're obviously different and special and above regular, normal people. I've found it takes conscious effort to remember that no how famous or smart or talented they are, in the end they're just some guy or girl, with the same flaws as everyone else.

And when you think someone's larger-than-life, it's easy to praise highly, because you're not thinking of them as a normal person, you're thinking of them as ABOVE normal people. That they are special. In light of this, it's easy to see why praise for someone or something, no matter what it is, can be seen as cultish., and how you can fall into the trap of believing praise for anything is cultish.