I'd say the main reason why there's a phobia of using C would be that it is a language that requires skilled programmers. C programmers are not interchangeable

I'd say the main reason why there's a phobia of using C would be that it is a language that requires skilled programmers. C programmers are not interchangeable cogs which means corporations that are dependent upon C code have to hire the best programmers not the ones with the best "soft skills" or the ones with the "right" physical appearance. The one thing corporations wanted, above all, was to increase the supply of programmers who won't break everything. This explains the trends towards safety in programming languages and it also explains why OOP became so popular. It also explains the push over the last 10-15 years or so for everybody to learn to code. Anything that is hard reduces the number of potential programmers which is bad for business's bottom line.