Standing up to someone to whom Hollywood and corporate media are against quite often doesn't make one a tough guy. That's an easy task. Having the confidence that media will back one up isn't a challenge at all. Using a venue or a soapbox in which one will not be confronted with an opposing view is easy to do. This happens quite often lately.
We've seen this done very often in commencement address speeches in which the speaker makes attacks at president Trump, for example, having the confidence that no-one will be able to come up to challenge their rhetoric. When elebrities do this, it's obvious they're simply trying to be or continue being popular. These personality types are plentiful, and come a dime a dozen in that category. Going against powerful institutions like corporate media without any support or backing, and going against the flow, however, does make one tough. Spreading the truth instead of lies while knowing it will not render popularity is admirable. People who do this have amazing and outstanding character. I will stop here and address the title of this post.
F*ck people like Bono, De Niro, and Springsteen. And also, those similar personality types that do not make this world a better place, but instead they are selfish and pseudo-empathetic. Moreover, they interfere with the positive work of many others who are truly good persons. I recommend reading my post, On Virtue Signaling on the sibling blogs.