When a scandal comes to light that implicates somebody we admire, there is a tendency to resist believing it at first. But as the evidence accumulates, and the window of plausible deniability closes, we cease that resistance, and our esteem for the one we admire is diminished.
Within a cult, it's different. The attachment to the leader is not mere admiration so much as it is adoration, or even identification. Any implication of wrongdoing by the cult leader is perceived as a direct personal attack against us. As more evidence accumulates—rather than causing followers to separate themselves from the leader—the cult tends to cleave more closely; the more credible, and the greater the accumulation of evidence, the more tightly the followers cling to the leader, and lash out at the accusers. The siege mentality they share can result in unpredictable, desperate behaviors.
This identification with the leader makes deprogramming difficult under the best of circumstances - much more so if the member can't be isolated from the influence of the cult. This is made even more difficult when the cult controls a vast communication infrastructure. In some nations, (e.g. China, Putin's Russia, Victor Orban's Hungary), the ruling party simply doesn't allow contradictory information to be broadcast. In other cases, the cult is simply trained to pay attention only to approved communication, by portraying all outside sources as 'fake news', or otherwise not credible. Unless this obstacle is overcome, there is little hope of breaking the hold of the cult on its members.
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