Do you think this publicist forgot to join “Team Edward”?

Sometimes it’s difficult to tell whether it’s the publicist or the celebrity that screwed up, but in this case there certainly is no question.  Robert Pattinson’s publicist made a big mistake. I would call it a possible CEM, which, as defined by the one and only Bill Sledzik, is a Career Ending Move.

Before going any further, I will confess to being a Twilight fan, but am neither on “Team Edward” nor do I have any strong feelings for or against Pattinson. The blame for this one really just lands on the publicist.

At the New Moon premiere, Ryan Seacrest had an interview booth set up on the red carpet. The always charming and surprisingly funny Pattinson stopped in for a quick interview.  Seacrest asks Pattinson a couple questions about the movie and then asks about his relationship with co-star Kristen Stewart, who plays Bella in the movie. For anyone that doesn’t follow the celeb gossip, Pattinson and Stewart have been rumored to be dating since the first movie but neither will admit or deny it.

What she did…

Pattison’s publicist interrupted the interview at that point and waved Pattinson to leave. She declared the interview over and as you’ll see in the video, made bother Pattinson and Seacrest uncomfortable.

This was not some local radio DJ, it was Ryan Seacrest! If you’re going to make an ass out of yourself and client, don’t do it in front of one of, if not the biggest, TV and radio personality in Hollywood. He tweeted about it saying “Robert Pattinson is [a] class act. However the rep he was with yanked him off the air and off the mic when I asked about Kristen. Unreal!”

What she should have done…

First and foremost, she should have kept quiet. A publicist should stay behind the scenes and never make himself or herself the story rather than the client.  She should work on looking more put together and pleasant. Since she is clearly going to be caught on camera, she should prepare accordingly. As in this case, she will end up making her client look bad. Tons of bloggers are talking about her nasty demeanor and frazzled look.

She should have prepped Pattinson with talking points and key messages to hit on during interviews months ago. He is the man of the minute and it is obvious that he is going to be asked certain questions. Actually, they should have been preparing for the Stewart question for about two years because he’s been asked this ever since the Twilight madness began.

She clearly doesn’t trust Pattinson; if she did she wouldn’t have interrupted him. If she gave him talking points and advised him on what to do when asked about his personal life with Stewart, then she should let him make his own choices on how to take that counsel and implement it during interviews.

What Pattinson should have done…

He should have apologized for his staff member’s rude behavior and then said that he tries to keep his personal life as private as he can and would rather not talk about it. He then should have just transitioned back to talking about the movie.

I do have to say, he recovered pretty well on his own. He came off looking like the good guy and even shook Seacrest’s hand and told the audience to see the movie because it’s “amazing.”

Maybe he is a close to perfect in real life and his fictional character, but I’d say he’s just a nice guy.

Wynonna, are you still famous?

At Wednesday’s Country Music Association Awards, Taylor Swift took home all four of the awards she was nominated for including the Entertainer of the Year Award. Unfortunately, it seems like someone always wants to rain on Taylor’s success. During an interview on the show’s red carpet Wednesday night, Wynonna Judd was asked what advice she would give to Swift.

“You want my honest comment? It’s too much too soon,” she said, according to USAToday.com. “Time is God’s way of keeping everything from happening at once. It’s just too much of a good thing too soon. Mom and I rode in a car for the first year of our career to visit radio stations. There was a making of the star, there was a rising-up, and the fans went with us. Now it’s over coffee breaks, the success, almost.”

While Wynonna Judd didn’t take it as far as Kanye West did at the MTV awards, she had to know that she’d receive backlash for the comment. She was asked to give Swift some advice, but instead she started spouting off her opinion. This raises the same question the Kanye incident did; was this a publicity stunt? Is Judd just trying to get attention? In this case I’d say yes, without a doubt. No one is talking about Wynonna anymore. I follow country music, so I can tell you; Wynonna is a has-been.

I think she made the decision to mouth-off on her own without any PR counsel because on her website, her management posed this statement the day after the awards show:

“I understand that my comment about Taylor Swift’s Entertainer of the Year nomination came across as a negative statement. My intent was not to take anything away from her talent and contributions to the country music industry…all of which are truly unprecedented for an artist of ANY age. Taylor is a beautiful, hard working young woman that deserves the success she has had and I support her as an artist and as a woman in the business.”

This was a poor attempt at crisis management. The statement was not posted on the homepage but instead on a message board elsewhere on the site. It’s clearly posted by her management, but there are other comments on the board that show they were made by her personally. This makes it look like Judd’s management was embarrassed by her and wanted to try to do damage control with no help from Judd.

The one and only thing about it that seemed the least bit sincere was that Judd tweeted about her apology and linked to the message board. But, these days how can anyone be sure Judd does her own tweets rather than a ghost writer from her staff? This was just bad crisis management on Judd’s staff. There isn’t a single interview or statement that came straight from Judd. Do you really think nobody is going to see through it?

Either way, Taylor’s still on top and now Wynonna just seems like a bitter, jealous woman.

Is Rihanna trying to get some good PR? Hell Yes!

Rihanna has spent a lot of time in the news this year, but not for her music.

Last February, Rihanna was badly beaten by her then boyfriend of over a year, singer Chris Brown. On that night, she had to be taken to the hospital rather than perform at the Grammy awards. Since then, the Rihanna and Chris Brown story has been all over the Internet and media.  The couple got back together briefly after the incident but split for good in late March.

Last week, Rihanna did a “Tell all” interview with Diane Sawyer for 20/20. A segment of the interview also aired on Good Morning America.   In the interview, Rihanna tells Sawyer that she went back to Brown 8 or 9 times after being abused.

“Love is so blind”, said Rihanna, “The minute the physical wounds go away, you want to go back. But, when I realized my selfish decision for love could result in some young girl getting killed, I could not be easy with that part.”

Rihanna says that the reason she wanted to tell her story is that she wants to be a good role model for young girls. She realizes that it was a mistake to go back to Brown and doesn’t want other women to make that same mistake just because she did.

“This happened to me. — I didn’t cause this. I didn’t do it. This happened to me, and it can happen to anybody.”

To many, this is old news. It happened over six months ago, so why start talking about it again now?

Sure, it could be because she finally feels ready to put everything out in the open. Or, maybe it’s because her new album Rated R is going to be released on November 23^rd.

I’m going to say it’s probably the latter. And, you know what? There is nothing wrong with it.

Of course Rihanna is trying to get some good publicity to try to promote record sales. Does that take away anything from her interview?  I say no, but many are saying yes.

Just because of the timing, critics are making it out to be a publicity stunt. I don’t think you can fake the emotion and truth that Rihanna showed during her interview with Saywer. This interview was well received by fans. Clips from the interview are popping up everywhere and everyone is watching it on YouTube.

Did Rihanna’s publicist book this interview on purpose? Sure. But, she also booked tons of other appearances on different networks like E! and MTV that had nothing to do with Chris Brown or abusive relationships. Did Rihanna’s people tell Diane Sawyer what to ask her? I don’t think so.

The Sawyer interview was just one part of what seems to be a successful public relations campaign to get Rihanna back on top. Now, maybe people will stop talking about the incident with Brown and start talking about her music again. Either way, it’s refreshing to see a young star that could easily take the on a Paris Hilton or Lindsay Lohan role, but instead she wants to be a role model.

Can good PR help Steve Phillips?

Steve Phillips, now former ESPN Baseball Analyst and former New York Mets General Manager, is receiving criticism for voluntarily checking himself into a rehabilitation center following the sex scandal that broke last week.

A representative of Phillips, Steve Lefkowitz, issued a statement that Phillips has entered an inpatient treatment facility “to address his personal issues.” Lefkowitz said Phillips’ problems are not substance related and compared Phillips’ problems to those of actor Michael Douglas, who has been treated for sexually compulsive behavior.

“Steve Phillips is not a sleazebag. He’s a good guy who just fell off the wagon,” Lefkowitz said. “Whatever he did wrong, it wasn’t under his control or he wouldn’t be checking himself in for help. He knows he needs help and wants a life with his family — that is paramount to him above everything else.”

Phillips’ Crime in the Court of Public Opinion

Phillips was fired from his job at ESPN Sunday after his affair with ESPN production assistant Brooke Hundley,22, became public.   When Phillips ended the affair, Hundley went after Phillips’ wife and son in what journalists are calling Fatal Attraction style. Hundley made phone calls to Marni Phillips and left a letter at her home after trying to contact the Phillips’ son on Facebook. Hundley was also fired from her position at ESPN.

Both parties are receiving bad press, but Phillips has more to lose. This is not the first time adultery has interfered with his career or marriage.  He’s admitted to having multiple affairs with women while working for the Mets, and in 1998, Phillips was sued for sexual harassment by another Mets employee but the case was settled out of court.

Will He Recover?

From the eyes of someone in PR, Phillips did the right thing. He was honest. He admitted to his affair and apologized to his family. He is even checked himself into rehab to fix his problem.

Yet, he lost his job, his wife has filed for divorce and he is being ridiculed by the public. While he deserves what he has coming from his wife, everything else seems to be a little extreme.

So what else can Phillips do to redeem himself and his career in sports?  His PR staff needs to go into complete crisis management mode.

The first thing they can do is to get Phillips in front of the camera or journalists. In his statement to ESPN, he said that he would not comment any further on his personal life but since then his “people” have issued several statements on his behalf.  It is understandable that many of the statements have come from his staff in this type of situation, but it would be more sincere to hear it straight from Phillips’ mouth.

Aside from that, they are going to have to be creative.  I’d suggest having Phillips blog about his time at the rehabilitation center and his problems. This will make the problem more real and not just a cover up for being a sleazy jerk. Other online tactics would also be useful because that is where the biggest buzz about this is.

Does Miley forget her fans are pre-teens?

Miley Cyrus deleted her twitter account because her new boyfriend didn’t like it.  A bad PR move? In more ways than one…

Cyrus’s fan base still is, and always will be, Disney channel’s Hannah Montana fans, whether she chooses to believe that or not.  Miley needs to embrace this fact rather than fight it.  Pre-teens want to see Hannah Montana, and parents are doing anything they can to get tickets to sold-out concerts because that is what their little princesses want.

Miley is going to lose some points with those parents for this one.  Do you want your daughter to idolize a 16-year-old girl that changes just because her new boyfriend doesn’t like it?  Miley’s last tweet:

“FYI Liam doesn’t have a twitter and he wants ME to delete mine with good reason.”

Miley (or her publicist) must have realized that she was tarnishing her perfect role-model status because an official statement was posted on her website stating that Liam was not the reason for deleting her Twitter account. She simply wants more privacy. I guess her Twitter account was invading her privacy because she felt the need to tweet about pointless things all day long.

She also complains that everything she says is used by the tabloids and that the internet breeds negativity.  If that is the case, then from a public relations standpoint, shouldn’t you keep your channel of communicating to your publics open?

But, after the statement was posted, the Miley-Twitter saga then took a turn for the worst.

What started off as a bad idea by a teenage celebrity who is trying too hard to impress her new boyfriend, turned into what looks like a bad publicity stunt. Yes, I’m talking about the video.

It’s tacky. It’s annoying.  It’s poorly lip-synced.  Again, I rewind to the fact that most of her fans are pre-teens. Is this appropriate?

Publishing the statement on the website was a good move, whether you agree with what it says, it was the right move for damage control from a public relations perspective.  By posting this video right there with it, the statement was lost.  All attention goes to the ridiculous video that makes her seem like an obnoxious brat.

If I could have given Miley some PR counsel…

I would have first advised her to keep her Twitter account going for the sake of having a way to communicate personally with her publics at any given moment. Then I would have said if you don’t want to use Twitter anymore, then don’t. It’s not like she was using it for legitimate PR purposes. Her followers don’t really need to know what she ate for dinner.

It could have been that simple. Just stop tweeting gradually until nothing at all. No need to announce it. Sure, a fan or the media may ask why you stopped tweeting and then you could have said you wanted more privacy or that it was too time consuming.

This obviously was not meant to be handled professionally and tactfully. It was intended to get attention and publicity.  Come on, you saw the video.

Did TLC make the right choice with “Kate plus 8”?

With ratings tanking, TLC had to make some changes to its once hit show “Jon and Kate Plus 8.”  With their divorce battle, conflicts over money and questionable parenting, the Gosselins have become a public relations nightmare for the TLC channel, that’s known for its wholesome programming.

“Jon and Kate Plus 8” was a reality show that followed the couple and their eight children. The focus of the show was supposed to be the challenges of raising eight children; however the focus has now shifted to Jon and Kate.  The show was a hit during its first five seasons, but since the announcement of Jon and Kate’s divorce was made over the summer, ratings are suffering.

For the upcoming season, the network has decided to proceed with “Katie Plus 8.”  Jon will only appear on occasion and the show will showcase Kate as a single mom.

Did TLC make the right decision to say adios to Jon?

TEAM JON

• During the recent seasons, Jon was home with the kids while Kate was writing books, touring and trying to make herself into a celebrity.

• Jon is constantly fighting to keep his kids out of the spotlight.  He genuinely wants them off the television for their own protection.

• Jon has filed papers to delay divorce proceedings in an attempt to patch things up with Kate or at the very least, make peace.

TEAM KATE

• TLC recently released a statement in response to Jon’s comments calling his behavior erratic, unprofessional and self destructive.

• Jon has been quoted on numerous occasions talking about how he doesn’t like being on the show and wanted to quit.

• Jon’s been partying, drinking and allegedly a new girlfriend. This doesn’t exactly portray the picture of a father of 8 young children.

In the end, TLC probably made the right choice.

Jon comes off as a victim to Kate’s brass personality a lot of the time and seems like the nice guy. It may have been a good idea to do the nice guy single dad show for something different. However, Jon blames TLC for everything that has gone wrong and openly speaks out about them. Since it’s TLC reputation on the line, they are not going to make a deal with someone they see as a loose cannon.  For TLC, this was the best decision. Even though they will likely loose viewers who can’t stand Kate, they can depend on Kate to follow the image they wish and stick to the communications objectives.

Although Kate is unpleasant and sometimes downright nasty, she is going to put her best foot forward. Kate wants to be a full blown celebrity and is using anything she can to her benefit.  A new season portraying her as a single “super mom” is likely to enhance her image and reputation.

From the publicity angle, the constant fighting and insults and tabloid photos between Jon and Kate are keeping them in the news. From a public relations standpoint, if Kate can make this work and improve her image as a good mom and keep the insults to Jon to a minimum, she will likely stop getting bad press.

Did David Letterman get good PR advice?

If you haven’t heard, David Letterman is in the news this week after a CBS News employee blackmailed him for $2 million after gathering proof that Letterman was having sexual relations with female staff members. On Thursday, Letterman addressed these allegations during his monologue.  He admitted to his relationships with female employees while throwing in some jokes, in typical Letterman style.

I suppose you could say that Letterman did just the opposite of the dreaded “no comment”; a complete over share.  Transparency and honesty are important in public relations, but could Letterman’s publicist really have advised him to do this?

Letterman has already caught a lot of bad press earlier this year for some comments he made about Sarah Palin’s daughter that many felt were in bad taste. People even protested and demanded that he be fired.

Since Letterman’s mouth is already known to get him in trouble, you’d think his publicist would be on high alert for a crisis situation to arise. Counseling him to spill his guts during the monologue of his show probably is not the best way to diffuse the current situation.

By announcing his indiscretions like that, it opened him up to several criticisms.  The first is that he is disrespectful to women. Many women will not find it funny that a married man is cracking jokes  about having sex with employees on national television. The staff members in question most likely will not think this is amusing either, nor will their husbands or families.  Also, the lawyers and others involved in the legal precedings won’t be thrilled that details from the case are being talked about freely.

If I were Letterman’s publicist, I would have counseled him to be open and honest but in a more tasteful way.  Although it’s his nature to be funny, right now is not the time for jokes. If he gets past this gracefully, that time will come.

Letterman needs to show remorse over his actions to win the forgiveness of female fans.  He could take notes on this  from Kobe Bryant. Bryant made a public apology to his wife when his affair was made public with what seemed like a genuine display of emotion.

Instead of airing his dirty laundry on the show, he could have made a more subdued statement.  I would have recommended releasing a statement to the media prior to the airing of the show. He still needed to admit that he had done something wrong, but by providing the media a statement prior, he would have given them something to use that would have been at least slightly more positive then the buzz he created by making jokes on his show.

However, I’m not disagreeing that something needed to be said on his show.  A simple statement, either at the beginning of the show or after the monologue,in a serious tone should have been made.  Something to the tone of “This is what I did, I’m not proud of it, I’m sorry to those involved” would have been sufficient.

But, Letterman did it his way (or his publicists way). It will be interesting to see what kind of backlash this creates for Letterman.  He’s recovered in the past, and he still has a lot of fans rooting for him. Hopefully, although I’m not a huge fan, this wasn’t a career ending move for him.

Does Kim Kardashian have a PR degree?

E! Reality star Kim Kardashian will produce a new reality television show based on PR that is planned to debut in 2010.

Kardashian and Cheban

This has made quite a buzz on Twitter and PR bloggers are dying to chime in, myself included.

In an article on People.com, Kardashian says of the possible series, which will be comprised of 30-minute episodes, “It’ll show all the ins-and-outs of PR. It’s going to be really fun. It’ll show how there’s lots of drama and crisis in the PR world.”

I think Kim may be confused.  She followed up with this:

“Every week we’ll have a different celebrity and a different crisis and drama. The great thing about Jonathan and Simon is that they focus on corporate PR and building brands; they don’t represent any individuals, so they see the bigger picture. They see how to make a celebrity into a brand. I’ve seen so many things go so close to going wrong, and then they fix everything.”

They focus on corporate PR and don’t represent any individuals, but they work with celebrities?

That’s a pretty contradictory statement Kim.  Too bad she didn’t have public relations counsel to help her prepare for the People Magazine interview to best communicate her key messages.

Many folks from the PR world are questioning the validity of Command PR and its founder Jonathan Cheban.

It’s difficult to say how legit Cheban is. The website for Command PR is lacking, to say the least.  It’s a single page that gives an address and phone number with a quote explaining that it focuses on “media buzz”.  No client list. No contact information. No link to social interactive media sites.  It’s hard to believe they specialize in communication. Everyone in PR knows that using the Web is as important as breathing.

Cheban does have a twitter account; however it doesn’t seem that he is using it to advance his PR career.

Does anyone know if Kardashian, Cheban or Huck actually has a degree in public relations?

I even tried to do some Google investigating.  The only thing I could find on Cheban was pictures of him with the Kardashains. Command PR and Simon Huck didn’t bring up much either.  You’d think these PR pros would know how to increase their SEO.

Regardless, is it really that detrimental to the reputation of public relations for these guys to make a reality show? Probably not.  It sounds like Kardashian and Cheban are in the business of publicity.  Specifically, the business in creating media buzz and publicity centered on themselves.

Actual public relations professionals shouldn’t worry. I doubt that any secrets of the trade are going to be divulged or that anyone’s clients are going to drop them and go running to Command PR for their public relations needs.  Come on, they don’t even have a real website.

It seems like Kim may be feeling a little left out while Kourtney and Khloe are Taking Miami and needed to get her name back out there.   At the very least, it should be interesting.