When I Spoke Up About My Colleague's 'Slacker' Reputation...

I've been at my job for a while now and there's this one colleague of mine, let's call her Jess. She's always the last to arrive, takes extra long lunch breaks, and leaves right on time when the clock strikes five. Everyone else talks about how lazy she is behind her back, and I mean everyone - it's like some kind of unwritten rule at work that we're all supposed to agree on this. But here's the thing... one day, I was in a meeting and someone brought Jess up as an example again. Without thinking too much, I spoke up. 'She might take longer lunches,' I said, 'but she always finishes her tasks before anyone else. Maybe it’s just about balancing work and personal time.' It felt good to defend her... but now everyone is looking at me like I'm crazy. Did I overstep? Was Jess actually a slacker all along?