Britney Spears- A positive note

I came across a story that made me want to make my last blog, at least for this class, a positive one.  In retrospect of the last six weeks, there is salvation in “PR land,” even if your client is not the best one.

Of all the people to bring me hope, it is the one that depresses me the most, Miss Britney Spears.  She has definitely had her ups, downs, and all arounds’.  According to Yahoo News,  she is not only revamping her success on the charts, she is revamping her web site.  You may be thinking, “well why is this news, people redo their web site all the time,” well, she is promising to give her web site followers exclusive content.  Britney has finally made a great PR move.  I actually wanted to go to her web site and check out the content.  I was curious, forgive the pun, and I could care less about what she does, although this blog may prove otherwise.

Am I saying that I would want Britney as my client, definitely not, but she does let us know that there is potentially nothing you can’t come back from, if you do it the right way- eventually! So, to all those stars out there getting drunk and driving, hitting the paparazzi, harassing flight attendants, and generally screwing up, have no fear! Drink your beer!! Because, people will love you again anyway.

For more information on Britney’s transformation visit:

Her new video, Womanizer-  YouTube.com

Her official web site-  BritneySpears.com

Paparazzi better watch out!!!!!!!!!

Actor Gerard Butler may be in a bit of trouble.  A Perez Hilton blog sites that a photographer filed a police report against Butler, accusing Butler of punching him.  Reports say that the photographer had been following Butler in his car.

 

The paparazzi have been following the Hollywood elite around for years. However, it seems that the danger for the stars as well as the paparazzi is growing exponentially.  Cars are faster and some of the high speed chases that take place when the paparazzi chase stars are putting more and more people in danger.  In the past two years, there has been a rise in the number of stars who are speaking up, and fighting back. 

 

The Los Angeles Times even highlighted some of the recent incidents.  In September, Kanye West smashed a few of the paparazzi cameras.  Avril Lavigne spit on a photographer, and Britney Spears beat one with an umbrella. The video below is from back in January when Bjork went off on a photographer.  Are all the stars going crazy?

 

How do we tell our clients not to fight back, when their lives are being put in danger? Is it bad publicity when they actually fight back?  It is really hard for me to say whether or not I think, after this incident, that Gerard Butler is as mean as, for instance, Russell Crowe.  If Gerard were my client, I would have him apologize for causing harm to the photographer, but also have him use that moment to further draw attention to the fact that his safety may also have been in jeopardy.  This way, Gerard is not that bad of a guy, and the photographer isn’t seen as some kind of innocent bystander to his anger.

For more information about paparazzi fights, please visit the sites below: 

Hollywood.com

ABC News

Naomi needs to not leave the house…EVER!!!!

Naomi Campbell did it again. No, she didn’t clock someone upside the head, she just spit on a police officer after a fight over her luggage! Then, on top of already offending one police officer, she made a comment about a subject with the potential to offend millions of Americans. 

According to Starpulse.com, Naomi said “I think after 9/11 you can’t say anything anymore on a plane. I’ve flown British Airways for years, since I was a child. The stewardesses will tell you that I would get on a plane, put on the blanket and go to sleep. I’ll never fly that airline again, but nothing is really lost. I did get my luggage. I was reunited with my YSL (Yves Saint Laurent,) and everything was cool.”

Perez Hilton kindly pointed out that “you couldn’t scream at a flight attendant before 9/11 and expect to be kept on the plane, dumb dumb!”  As a client, I would definitely consider Naomi a tough one.  It is one thing to know that your client is, for instance, likes to party, and that you may have to deal with relevant issues surrounding drinking or getting drunk, but it is one thing to have a crazy, sporadic, do anything at anytime client. 

All of the PR representatives need to get together and write a “don’t go there” list, something that clients can just know should not be said in public. Of course, this is no guarantee that they would not say any of the things on the list, but I wonder if anyone has ever sat down with them and said, “If you say this, it will offend a lot of people, and they won’t like you anymore!” 

For more information on Naomi Campbell and her troubles, you can go to: Hollyscoop.com

 

Winehouse is drowning in a publicist free cesspool

As I was reading Perez Hilton’s blog and realized I wasn’t finding anything other than celebrities coming out, I thought to myself, ” Wow, as soon as I have to write about them, all of the celebrities are being good.”  Then, I scroll down and find Amy Winehouse’s picture, looking really bad.  Not even Perez could draw anything funny, in white, on her picture to make it worse. The only thing Perez could come up with was “mess,” and that was on the good picture!

Sometimes things with celebrities get so bad you wonder, “where the heck is their publicist?”  Things with miss Amy Winehouse are at that point and, still, no words from her publicist.  Does she even have one?  I bet she scared him away too!  

Being the only UK singer to win 5 Grammy awards hasn’t kept her increasingly waning image out of the media, and since it is so bad, something needs to be done to try and protect her image, or at least help so that if she makes a “come-back”, it is something more than laughable.  In the video below, her publicist was actually found for comment, but probably would have been better off saying nothing. 

As Amy’s publicist, I would definitely make a “worst case scenario” list, and a black website, so that I can combat and comment on the trouble she gets/will get into at a moments notice.  Most of all, I would kidnap her and take her to an undisclosed location, without alcohol (and drugs).

For more on Amy visit:

Her official site: www.amywinehouse.co.uk/

TMZ.com

Howard’s hoops are now a political game

According to Yahoo, Dallas Mavericks forward, Josh Howard is in trouble again.  This time, Howard was caught disrespecting the national anthem at a charity football game.  Howard walked up to a camera during the national anthem and said, ” I don’t even celebrate that… I’m black.”

Howard is also known for admitting on a radio program that he occasionally smokes marijuana.  Howard was also arrested in July of 2008, for drag racing.

As a client, Howard is a walking, politically incorrect, disaster.  The previous trouble he was in has been spread out enough, and frequent enough for Howard’s agent to be prepared with some type of statement.  When called, Howard’s agent, Jeff Schwartz, did not immediately return the call with a  comment.  Owner of the Mavericks, Mark Cuban, declined to comment on the incident.

Why does this continue to happen?  There are a lot of sports players getting into a lot of trouble and agents and owners still have no comment.  How hard is it to say, ” it was a bad judgement call” or “his comment does not reflect the opinion of the team or the NBA.” Having something to say to the media, other than ” no comment,” is PR 101, and ignoring the media is PR suicide.

For more information on John Howard, please visit:

wikipedia.org

sports.yahoo.com

buzz.yahoo.com

Blog #1- Olsen twins cause double the trouble

According to TMZ.com and FOXNews.com, the Olsen twins are causing a ruckus in their new posh New York City neighborhood.  Residents are complaining about the twins’ bodyguards and cars.  The Olsen twins rep said “If there were significant issues, you would think that the neighbors would address Ashley or Mary-Kate directly, rather than calling the media.”  That’s it?  Despite all of the mounting controversy surrounding the twins in the past couple of years, all the rep can say is that there are no significant issues?

It’s not that the twins have been completely slandered in the news, but the publicity they have been receiving is growing more and more negative.  First we have Mary- Kate’s eating disorder, then more recently her “involvement” with the late Heath Ledger (and she’s not his baby’s momma.) Then, Ashley Olsen’s under the PETA eye for her fur wearing escapades.   The girls still have the cute little “Full House” thing going for them, and it’s even hard for me to look at them as anything else, but if they keep causing a stir, the public, and of course their neighbors, won’t see anything cute about them anymore.

The twins’ so called “rep” needs to work on getting them back into a positive light in the public eye, or at least a neutral one.  The girls need to publicly apologize for getting on their neighbors’ nerves, and for not being the best role models. If Paris can do it, so can the Olsens.

For more on the twins in general:

US Magazine- PETA article-  usmagazine.com

cbsnews.com

people.com

gawker.com