People will choose what they listen, see, or read heavily based on who the performer is.
A performer who has consistently given good content will obviously have a bigger pull than a nobody still trying to get their first break.
The identical paper being rejected more often based on the celebrity of the author isn't that.
I've seen it from the inside. Probably read 80-100 widely-cited papers during my PhD (before dropping out), and maybe half a dozen of them were written by people who had any interest in discovering truth and pushing mankind forward.
Seriously cannot overstate both the willful ignorance of established scientists, and the extent to which this is enforced onto the next generation.