The fact people have to die in order to get respect

Some time ago Robin Williams killed himself.

People are appalled by the word "suicide", and since Robin Williams was such a great guy, no sarcasm here, they don't even want to face the facts and realize he killed himself. They're all saying "he died of depression". Okey then. How about being adults for once and accept Robin Williams did, in fact, kill himself, to which he had all the right to do so. It does not make him less of a person; he felt enough sorrow to be motivated to do this. Apparently the love for his family and friends or his fame did not silence his inner struggles. It's too bad, but this is the truth.

But his death made me remember an inner discussion I often had with myself in the past, about how the media responds to the death of famous people.
When Robin died, I was genuinely sad and that was strange, as I can't consider myself a Robin Williams fan. I've seen only 3 of his movies and his role in Aladdin was not part of my childhood, as I grew up with my own language and thus different voice actors singing the Disney songs. I always thought our Genie was funnier as well.
But Robin Williams was one of those celebrities I never heard crap about on the news, and maybe that's why I grieved. He stayed out of the news and out of trouble, therefore he stayed good in my book.

Unlike Michael Jackson, for example.
Artists tend to get glorified after their death; suddenly Micheal Jackson wasn't a childish pedofilic zombie creep, suddenly Elvis Presley wasn't a fat wife beater, suddenly Whitney Houston wasn't an addicted one-hit-artist everyone forgot about years ago.
Their deaths meant returning sales and sudden tributes, and it's a sad thing that not only does nobody mention the shit these artists got the day before ever again, but stores are squeezing millions out of their dead corpses, without shame.

Are dead people suddenly good because they're dead? Are dead people only good because they're dead?