I want to describe someone who has a bad reputation and tends to make people talk about him (in a bad way) because of how he behaves, before saying that he's actually passionate and kind. If possible, I'd like an adjective.

I was thinking of something alone the lines of scandalous, but in a less pejorative way. Would badmouthed be idiomatic?

Context:

This allowed us to meet Jean, notoriously [adjective] person, who actually turned out to be quite kind and invested.

How would you go about this one?

Thanks in advance!