Ultimately, the value to the community that a producer provides should always be a function of the quality of the product. However, harassment is not okay. It’s okay to not like people, or not like their products, but it is most definitely not okay to engage in toxic attacks against individuals.
In general, I find it very easy to believe the staff would mess up and mute the person defending themself. It’s also common in real life, to punish the defender and not the attacker usually inadvertently.
I hope the staff do the right thing and crack down on the harassment and toxicity.