In popular culture, these rumours helped depict the Brezhnev era as an "Era of Stagnation". Many of the rumours stemmed from the fact that most of Brezhneva's friends and colleagues had earlier been arrested, and the majority of them had been linked to some sort of corruption or vice.
In the context of popular culture, these rumors helped create a narrative about the Brezhnev era as a time of stagnation. The rumors were largely driven by the fact that many of Brezhneva's social circle and colleagues had been arrested earlier, and most of them had connections to wrongdoing or immorality.