2010: My (P)Return to the Blogosphere

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you've imagined!" -Henry David Thoreau

One of my goals for 2010 was to start blogging again. Well, it’s February and my last post is still screaming April 27, 2009! I might be a little late in posting this, but better late than never, right? I am finally ready to take on the entertainment world once again!

To bring y’all up-to-date, I took a break from posting last summer to intern again at an entertainment PR firm in Los Angeles. I returned to the Buckeye State in the fall to graduate from good ole’ Kent State University and recently made La La Land my permanent home. I am ready to embark on my new journey into the “real world” and the blogosphere. This is going to be a great year, I can feel it.

Be on the lookout for my first post of the NEW YEAR!

XoXo,

Jenna

 

Jamie’s “Sirius” problem with Miley

 

Jamie Foxx eats his words after dogging teen queen Miley Cyrus

It doesn’t look like Jamie Foxx will be returning to the Academy of Country Music Awards anytime soon. Over the weekend, the actor turned rapper turned radio host seriously offended country star Billy Ray Cyrus’ little princess Miley on his radio show, The Foxxhole. 

“Who is Miley Cyrus? The one with all the gums? She gotta get a gum transplant…Sh*t.”

FYI: Miley Cyrus is only the hottest Disney star of all time and coincidently, the 41-year-old Academy Award winner met Miley at the Kids’ Inaugural: We Are the Future concert. 

Reason for the rampage: 

The comments stemmed from mentioned Miley’s plot to “ruin” Radiohead after the band refused to meet her at the Grammys this year.

“She’s gonna ruin Radiohead’s career? The same Radiohead that gets paid a million dollars just to sample their songs?”

I thought Radiohead’s response to Miley was harsh but Jamie definitely has them beat.

“Make a sex tape and grow up. Get like Britney Spears and do some heroin. Do like Lindsay Lohan and start seeing a lesbian and get some crack in your pipe. Catch Chlamydia on a bicycle seat.”

The only good PR moment in this whole mess was Miley’s response to Jamie’s comments. She said via Twitter Monday night, “if you can’t say anything nice, don’t say anything at all.” 

Jamie publicly apologized Tuesday night on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno and said he didn’t mean it to be malicious.  

Right, telling a 16-year-old girl to make a sex tape and do some heroin is not malicious. His co-host called her a “little white b*tch” for crying out loud. 

Jamie’s publicist went even further to remind people that “Jamie’s show is a comedy.” 

(P)Remorseful: 

Disclaimer: I am not exactly a Miley Cyrus fan.

However, Jamie Foxx has gone too far. This is not humor. This is not something that can just go away with a “whoops I’m sorry.” This is a grown man slamming a young girl, fighting a battle that was not even his to begin with. His comments were meant to be vicious.

 Foxx did not impress anyone with his outrage. One blogger went as far to say:

“We’re not impressed Jamie. You’re just giving us more reason to believe you’re one of the biggest jokes in Hollywood. If I were Billy Ray Cyrus I would hunt your *ss down like a fox and give you the smack down!”

If Billy Ray made the same comments about Foxx’s 14-year-old daughter, he would be outraged. And I’m talking filing slander charges and making sure Cyrus never saw daylight again. 

Foxx’s timing could not have been worse with his latest film “The Soloist” hitting theaters next week. It would have been wise to AT LEAST wait until after the movie was already out… or better yet, just say nothing at all. 

Shame on you Jamie.

Is it the end of the road for T.I. or just the beginning?

T.I. was sentenced to one year and a day in prison and a $100,000 fine after pleading guilty to a federal weapons charge. | Courtesy of Music.com

Fact #364: I am a big fan of T.I.

…In case you were wondering.

However, last year I found myself torn after hearing of the rapper’s arrest. Now when celebrities I like do something unethical or illegal I usually boycott their work.

• When Lindsay Lohan went through her mess with DUI upon DUI, I stopped watching her movies.
• Though I am not a huge fan of rapper Akon, I stopped listening to his music after he simulated raping a teenage girl on stage while on tour.   
• Recently I have stopped listening to both Chris Brown and Rihanna music for obvious reasons as I have stated in previous blogs.

This one was a little harder for me. I was much more invested in this artist than the others. But, I stood by my ethics and boycotted the music.

Yesterday, I listened to my first T.I. song in about a year. Though the rapper is still in hot water and will be for another year or so, this man is now good in my book.

A Little Background

T.I. was sentenced to one year and a day in prison and a $100,000 fine after pleading guilty to a federal weapons charge.  The 27-year-old rapper, whose real name is Clifford Harris, was arrested while en route to the 2007 BET Hip-Hop Awards in Atlanta where he was to headline.

Though T.I. pleaded guilty last March, he was not sentenced until last week as part of a deal to see if he could successfully perform over 1,000 hours community service. The deal was arranged in attempts to lower T.I.’s sentence that had a maximum of 10 years in prison.

Arrested and Admired?

Weapons taken from T.I.'s home in 2007 | Courtesy of Photobucket.com

T.I. attempted to buy unregistered weapons from undercover federal agents after his best friend was killed in 2006 at a party in Cincinnati.  T.I. believed that the bullets fired at his entourage were aimed at him and not his friend.  But the problem stemmed from the fact he was already a convicted felon from a 2004 drug conviction charge and other charges from his younger years.

So why would blogger Joyce Alla call the rapper an admirable and respectable young man? And why would I agree?

As a part of his required community service hours, T.I. visited a total of 262 community centers, churches and schools to talk to kids about drugs, guns and violence.

On top of the 1,000+ hours T.I. had to complete, he teamed up with MTV to film “Road to Redemption,” which documented his final 45 days before sentencing. The show aired on February 11, 2009 and followed T.I. as he taught seven kids not to make the same mistakes in life that he did.  

(P)Redemption

MTV and T.I. teamed up to film "Road to Redemption," a documentary that follows the rapper as he teaches kids not to make the same mistakes he did. | Courtesy of Hiphopsmpr.com

The show was successful in helping T.I.’s reputation because it really showed that he cared about making a difference not in just his life but in the lives of others. His show not only reached the seven kids he personally helped on the show but also the viewers that tuned in to watch the 8-week series.

So often the public watches in awe as celebrities break the law and violate probation as if they are above it all. It is refreshing to see T.I. accept his wrong-doings and strive to make good with his fans and his community. It will only help him in the long run. At his sentencing even the judge applauded his efforts to raise awareness and prevent kids from following a destructive path in life.

“I think this has been a great experiment. I hope this experience can lead to other experiments so others won’t make the same mistake at all. I congratulate you.”  -U.S. District Judge Charles Pannell Jr.

While I believe “Road to Redemption” was positive and successful publicity for the rapper, it was his actions that truly kept his reputation from being tainted. T.I. accepted the consequences and he did it with dignity. I feel that will help him retain and gain even more respect and admiration from the public. 

The final episode, “The Reckoning,” was supposed to air March 31, but due to technical problems the new premiere date is set for Tuesday, April 7 at 9pm. Be sure to watch and let me know what you think!

Whatever, Martha! says whatever to good publicity

Martha Stewart along with daughter Alexis (right) and Jennifer Koppelman Hutt, hosts of "Whatever, Martha!"

I stumbled across a TV week article that said Fine Living Network was renewing the show “Whatever Martha!” for a second season. Having no idea what the show was about I started to look into it. Martha Stewart and her daughter, Alexis, along with Jennifer Koppelman Hutt, friend and daughter of the chairman of Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia, Charles Koppelman teamed up to create “Whatever, Martha!,” which debuted in 2008. When I started researching the show I read a New York Times article that described the premise of the show as a half hour where the “two hosts (Alexis and Jennifer) will critique old clips from her 1990’s cooking and craft show.” 

So I thought okay, this doesn’t sound too bad. The girls watch how “simple” it is for Martha to make a meal, complete a project, and plant a garden and then try it themselves to see if it really is that easy. Because we all know it always looks easier on TV. Sounds like a cute premise right? 

Not so much. Check this out… 

 

How Rude! 

The show is the exact opposite of that! Alexis and Jennifer’s “critiques” are hardly PC, adding sexual innuendos and nasty jokes about Martha’s clothing selection and excessively detailed projects. 

As I watched the clips I sat in awe. I can take a joke or two. But what I cannot take is a show that blatantly disrespects someone for no reason.

“She would say it herself, given a drink or two.” -Alexis Stewart, NY Times August 2008

Everything about this show seems like a conflict of interest. “Whatever, Martha!” airs on the Fine Living network, home of Martha’s talk show, “The Martha Stewart Show.” In my opinion, you either love her or you hate her. I am not quite sure that the fans who religiously watch Martha are going to be enthusiastic to watch a show that bashes their love and appreciation for the queen of crafting. 

Good Publicity or Bad Publicity 

As a person who does not care for Martha, I am not really looking to waste my time watching a show that makes fun of someone I don’t like. And if I did like her, I would be insulted to watch a show that pokes fun of someone who I look to for advice. 

Not to mention that as the final credits roll, Martha’s name appears under the titles of Producer and Director. So not only has she publicly approved the show, she helps to put together the Martha-trashing mess.

Martha created the show in hopes of attracting a new audience that was interested in household advice but maybe not Martha herself. The idea came from the old show “Mystery Science Theater 3000,” which poked fun of old horror movies. The show was a hit, but it did not directly attack one specific person, let alone the person that produced the show! And that’s where Martha went wrong.  I am not to sure that “Whatever, Martha!” will boost DVD sales and rerun ratings. 

From a PR perspective 

Martha’s publicist Sheila Feren is still uncertain about the show. It is her job to protect Martha’s reputation and with her previous run-in with the law, it may not be the best idea to purposely publicize her in a negative way. 

The show’s premise is weak and disrespectful, not to mention a publicity nightmare for Martha. I don’t think it was as genius as she thought it would be. I just hope for her and her publicist’s sake that I am wrong.

Celebri-NOT

Ce-leb-ri-ty: noun- a famous or well-known person.

When I think of celebrities I think of people such as Jennifer Aniston, George Clooney, the Jonas Brothers, P Diddy and Lindsay Lohan.

Other celebrities that come to mind are Brad Pitt, Miley Cyrus and Nadya Suleman.

Nada-WHO? Exactly.

Nadya Suleman aka Octumom | Courtesy of Hometown Hollywood

Perhaps you know her by her stage name: Octumom. No, Nadya Suleman is not by definition a celebrity, more so… a media whore.

Media whore: noun- a person that uses his or her private life as a vehicle for enhanced celebrity status.

Yep, that’s her.

What is she doing on the Entertainment news slot?

Octumom, yet again, bounced her big belly back into our homes via Access Hollywood, E!News, and Showbiz Tonight.

Suleman brought home two of her eight newborns Tuesday night and was greeted by photographers, reporters, and gawkers who had camped out on the front lawn of Suleman’s new house for hours.

If I hadn’t known any better I would have thought Britney Spears was in that car.

The scene was unreal and for what? Two babies and a no-name mother surrounded by so much scandal it’s absurd.

For those who have not jumped on the Octumom-wagon, Nadya Suleman is an unemployed, single mother of 14, living off of food stamps and compensation from a work-related accident.

But what is the Entertainment element behind this oh-so-touching story?

Stick to Entertainment news please

Leave Octumom to Nancy Grace and Dr. Phil. If I want a hot mess, my go to girl is Amy Winehouse and if I want to watch a mom with an over abundance of children, John and Kate Plus Eight is on Mondays at 8pm followed by three other shows with families just like theirs.

Angelina Jolie and her six kids? Now that is an entertainment story about a celebrity mom. That makes sense on E!News.

PReaching to the choir

It is a disservice to the public to continue airing this family’s legal problems as if it was a crazy reality show or sitcom. The truth is, it’s not funny and it shouldn’t be entertainment. There are children’s lives at stake. People are questioning this woman’s capability to raise 14 children. This is a legal matter that has been blown way out of proportion.

There is no correlation between entertainment and this case. Yes, she had eight babies, so did five other moms on The Learning Channel, this is old news. She is not a celebrity so why are we reporting. There is no historic value; she is not breaking a record.

SO who is to blame for this? Is it the fault of the news stations for continuing to fall into Suleman’s trap to publicize her irrelevant life story because people are intrigued? OR is it Nadya Suleman’s fault for continuing to LET the news stations over-publicize her story? She should be focusing on her 14 children and not who and what stations are covering her saga.

You decide.

Yes, it may have had a news angle at first, but definitely not an entertainment news angle. Regardless, the media is wasting valuable time and resources filming. I’ll just wait for the Lifetime movie. But until then, leave her alone. Straight from the mouth of Octumom herself:

“I am not a celebrity. I am not a celebrity.”

Is Rihanna the publicity nightmare?

Superstar and Cover Girl model Rihanna | Courtesy of Ultimate-Rihanna

To be perfectly honest, I am getting bored of this topic but as a PR major, I cannot help but think about what is going to become of the whole mess. When the speculations began to come out after the Grammy’s I was so disgusted with Chris Brown for “allegedly” beating up Rihanna. I mean, we all knew it was her, it was so obvious. But now, only a month later, I cannot help but look at this case from a totally different perspective. The hard thing about entertainment PR is it is hard to distinguish from gossip and fact. We have heard so many stories on this case, what is the truth? As we head into another week I cannot help but flip-flop sides…. I once stood by Rihanna, as a fan, as a woman, and as a publicist I thought she had a really good chance to recover from this… bigger and better than before. But from forgiving, to forgetting, to throwing the first punch, Rihanna is in a whole lotta mess.      

Easy, breezy, beautiful “Forgiver Girl”

Rihanna’s move to forgive Chris Brown could not only hurt her reputation but could also hurt her career. Cover Girl has not said anything about dropping the singer from endorsing the make-up, but I would not be surprised if it is something that happens in the near future. Make-up symbolizes independence, femininity, confidence, beauty…. and to feel beautiful you have to love yourself inside and out.

The fans are lashing out on many Web sites. On mother on TheHollywoodGossip.com, feels so adamant about Cover Girl dropping the diva that she will not use the product as long as Rihanna is the spokesperson.

“My 14 year old daughter and I will NO LONGER BUY COVER GIRL PRODUCTS!

GOODBYE COVER GIRL! HELLO MARY KAY PRODUCTS!”

What company stands by someone that gets viciously beaten by her boyfriend and god back to him?

Rihanna is NOW THE WORST EXAMPLE OF A ROLE MODEL TO YOUNG GIRLS AND TO WOMEN!

Yes Rihanna is young and yes she is beautiful but… SHE’S A HEADCASE!!!!!!

Cover Girl could find another gorgeous girl to be the face of their make-up. As a PR professional, I would not want to lose customers who use Cover Girl because we chose to stand by a girl who got beat up by her boyfriend but chose to stay with him.  In the end Cover Girl still has a business to run and a mission to stand by.   

Chris Brown and Rihanna | Courtesy of Dose.ca

Forgive and Forget- If only it were that easy

Her music career will more than likely be over. She is already planning a love duet with Brown. I mean really? Can we say worst idea? My thoughts on this are “what is her publicist doing?” Her PR team should have given her strict orders to:

 a) Not to speak to Chris Brown and accept the protection order. (Which if you follow the story she dropped the protective order so she could be with Chris)

b) Keep a low profile until the storm has blown over. (She was seen out for her birthday and at P Diddy’s mansion along with Brown!)

c) Remember that as a high-profile celebrity, everyone is watching every move. (That went through one ear and out the other…)

But either no one thought of that or Rihanna turned her cheek, so then what do you do? Chris Brown’s career was supposed to fizzle out and she could have come back stronger than ever with a positive message to old and new fans alike.

Road to Rehab- Seems like better publicity for Brown

One psychologist tells the New York Daily News that the success of Chris Brown also depends on a lot of what Rihanna does. However, this sounds like a good plan for CB but what about Rihanna’s reputation? If Rihanna chooses to stay with Brown and help him rehabilitate, what happens to her career? What happens to the charges, because we all know they will be dropped if she is willing to stay with him? Unfortunately for Brown they will more than likely be picked up by the People of California.

But now with allegations that Rihanna threw the first punch, the plot thickens once again. Will she also go to rehab; will this whole case be dropped? 

One Hot Mess

I never thought I’d say this but I think Rihanna’s career is one to be concerned about. She has forgotten about her self-worth and pride. She forgot about the millions of little girls that worshiped her. I understand it is her life ultimately, but when you are in the limelight, you are a role model. The whole case needs time, but both parties (including the PR camps) have rushed into making amends, which will hurt both stars in the end. She had the chance to come out on top, if she would have just followed three simple rules- but instead she has lost some of her truest fans just so she could gain the love back of the man who knocked her out. Makes sense.

Oscars shine this year despite gloomy past

81st Academy Awards

Bravo!

Academy Awards producers Laurence Mark and Bill Condon pulled off a much-needed successful televised awards ceremony. In recent years the awards season ratings have been down but this year’s awards ceremony of the Oscars brought viewership ratings up 13 percent.

Contrary to most Americans, I am always excited to watch the awards shows during awards season. I live for “E! Live from the Red Carpet” and remember the days when Joan and Melissa Rivers did the commentary for best and worst dressed. I guess I am more of a fan of the pre-shows and post-red carpet highlights. I don’t think I have ever sat through a whole presentation of the Academy Awards.

The not-so-same ole Song and Dance
This year the Academy Awards pulled out all the stops grabbing the attention of viewers with big names medleys, and star-studded collaborations. People want to see something they have never seen before.

Hugh Jackman swept both the audience and viewers off their feet with musical number after musical number featuring an eclectic cast of singers, actors and “Craig’s List” dancers. It was kind of like watching a Broadway performance at first and I wasn’t too sure how people would react… not everyone is a die-hard theatrical fan as I am. (Just took a trip to Chicago about a month ago to see Jersey Boys, what a show!)

Who would have ever thought to pair Zac Efron, Hugh Jackman and Beyonce Knowles for a medley of songs from Hairspray, West Side Story, and Chicago? Exactly, no one has. But it was that kind of creativity the producers needed to put the Oscars back on the map.

 

Rooting for the underdog
It was the year of the underdogs. It was a beautiful thing to see Sean Penn win Best Actor over Brad Pitt for his role as Harvey Milk in “Milk.” People wanted to see that. People wanted to see others rise from nothing to great success. Even after the awards people that I never expected to pay attention to were chatting about “Slumdog Millionaire” sweeping the season and “Brangelina“ leaving empty handed. How about a round of applause for first-time Oscar winner Dustin Lance Black, who won Best Original Screenplay for “Milk;  and let’s not forget Heath Ledger’s incredible win for Best Supporting Actor.

This year the Academy Awards gave viewers that fairy tale ending that is much needed at this time in our country. I think again, that the Academy Awards producers did a good job pulling viewers in and capturing them.

Economy DID play a part
This year there were skeptics that awards season would not be a success because Americans were tightening the reins at home and would not appreciate the glitz and glam with the economy in a recession. However, I feel the Oscars gave viewers a chance to look beyond the economy for one night and to appreciate the Arts once again. The Academy Awards showed off true talents and hard work, which was a good move for the ceremony.

And the Oscar for Best Awards Ceremony goes to…
This year’s Oscars were a public relations success. The awards set the tone for more years to come. The producers paid attention to past years shortcomings and were able to identify what would make the viewers happy.

Celebrities managing their own social networking sites… Good publicity or bad PR stunt?

Twitter.com | Courtesy of Roadagent.org

 I cannot help but get sucked into Web sites like Eonline.com and PerezHilton.com for my latest celebrity gossip. But now I am finding the latest “celeb” news not far from my Facebook home page and Tweetdeck. As of late, more and more celebrities are creating and managing their own social networking sites, a job usually left up to the publicists. (I even had the opportunity to do such work for a high-profile client!) Celebrities like Taylor Swift have been praised for their efforts to maintain their own Web sites.

While I think it is great that information is coming straight from the source, as a potential entertainment PR professional I cannot help but wonder:  

§ What effect this is going to have on my future?

§ Does this mean even more monitoring of the online world?

§ Does this mean more damage control?

§ What is my purpose as a “gatekeeper” if my clients are hopping the fence? 

 

The pros and cons…

 I definitely think celebrities should take advantage of social networking sites. It is a way for fans to find connections. It is a way for people to see the mundane lifestyles that some A-listers actually live. It is an inside look at the “celeb life” some of us crave. AND it is a great way to further brand a name.

 

However, there is a major problem when the brand and celebrity’s true identity start to conflict.

  

Kutcher’s camp gets nailed

Funny guy Ashton Kutcher recently had to apologize for a few “not-so-nice” comments he posted on Twitter. 

 

§ “I’m going to kill my neighbor.”

§ “Jack *ss 7am building a god damn fort next to my house f’in up my view and noise polluting the entire f’in neighborhood with pounding steal.”

§ “This SOB owl feces cougar placenta jack bone d*ck!”

 

Kutcher was mad at his neighbor for doing construction at 7 am. By 1 pm that afternoon, the Huffington Post had already gotten a hold of the comments along with a video he posted on Qik.com.  

 

 

I’m all for celebrities on social media sites, however, I think it is apparent that they are under the strict scrutiny of the public and should really think before posting. They are not the ones that have to clean up after the mess. Although Kutcher took to the web himself to personally apologize, that is not always the case. 

 

“Disturbia” in the PR world 

In the midst of the Chris Brown/ Rihanna controversy (as if the whole pre-Grammy incident wasn’t enough to handle), Brown had to hire a PR team on top of his current publicist for some major crisis management to dispel rumors found on fake blogs, Facebook posts and pictures on his personal site. So now once again publicist to the rescue to help fix what shouldn’t really be damaged. And once again I find myself asking “are publicists doing more damage control now more than ever?”  

 

Now, on top of all the rumors and gossip celebrities and publicists deal with in Hollywood, it seems more monitoring is needed online to make sure the celebrities themselves aren’t offending anyone, spilling any juice or even personally defending an attack without consulting a publicist. Does this seem like added work to anyone else besides me? 

 

What does the future hold? 

I understand as the times are changing with social networking sites online, we are beginning to see a more and more celebrities using these media outlets as ways to express themselves.  And as more and more of these sites begin to pop up over the years to come, publicists will have to anticipate that more problems may arise.  This will be a challenge as most of these types of sites did not exist 10 years ago, so as these social sites form, publicists will need to “change with the times” and set up a plan of action to keep their clients under control.

 

 

I’m all for hard work and getting dirty in the business, BUT publicists and their clients are essentially on the same team… shouldn’t they be fighting for the same thing: positive publicity?

Social Networking Sites