I disagree.
We are all constantly making a concious decision, whether we realise it or not, when we watch TV or read an article, to either like or dislike or feel indifferent about a person. We assess who is talented and who is not all the time, its usually called 'taste'. For instance, we have all decided that U2 is pretty talented, hence we are all here appeciating their music and, usually, defending them from whatever article or critic says about them in a program or magazine. Like it or not, we are constantly deciding who is talented and who is not.
Bashing comes into it when you read an article about them and they, the celebrity/article/journalist or what have you, gives you an impression of them that produces a negative reaction. Now, I'm not saying that an article will tell you what a person is like, and I'm not saying that we know the real, say, Lindsay Lohan, but to say that we are not competent enough to think a person as talented or untalented is a little out of whack.
For me, bashing comes into it when I really don't like the way a person comes across, I deem untalented, and it ultimately kills me that such a person is getting so many opportunities other people, better people, will never have. I'm not saying its right, but I DO think that we do have the right to at least deem someone untalented, should we feel inclined to do so.
Ant.