Days like today I am glad I’m not a celebrity publicist.
Public relations professionals who work with brands have it easy. Those brands can’t speak for themselves and thus, they can’t put a foot in the brand’s mouth. Not so with celebrities.
In case you don’t know what I’m referring to: On the MTV Video Music Awards Kanye West, presumably drunk on cognac, interrupted Taylor Swift’s acceptance speech after winning the Best Female Video Moonman. Katy Perry described it as “stepping on a kitten.” In an open letter on her blog, Kelly Clarkson wanted to know if he didn’t get hugged enough as a child. I think part of the issue is that Swift is a new artist and still quite young. Many feel she deserved some spotlight and viewed West’s actions as heartless. Regardless of what you think, his PR team probably needed to change their pants.
You can’t fault his PR team though. They only have so much control. More so than with brands, PR teams for celebrities are often janitors for these open individuals who sometimes have eccentric lives. After all, could Spears’ publicist do anything to stop her from shaving her head? What could her little sister Jamie’s publicist have done to stop her from getting pregnant? Imagine the daily headache Michael Jackson’s PR team faced.
Granted, there are times a PR team can take a more active role in a star’s activities. Someone present at Miley Cyrus’s controversial “topless” Vanity Fair photo shoot could have suggested that it might not resonate with the Disney-level fans and parents.
So what’s a publicist to do for Kanye West? I’ve suggested that in the long term, maybe in a year or two, some form of duet with Swift would be the perfect fix. It would take some work to get to that point. A proper apology would be a good start, something akin to a heartfelt minute or two on YouTube. Anything written will not appear as sincere. After that, he needs to do the exact opposite of what he appeared to do on the awards show; he needs to disappear from the spotlight.
Granted, I’m un-researched in this area and a few months out of the music industry. Despite this, I think he can take a lesson from the airline industry. When a plane crashes, they silence the brand so the public can forget. If Kanye doesn’t want to look like he’ll step on anyone for the spotlight, he needs to follow that advice. He’s the brand, he needs to cork it.
http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/09/14/kanye.west.reaction/index.html
http://www.cnn.com/2009/SHOWBIZ/TV/09/14/mtv.music.video.awards/index.html