At the moment I am watching the 20/20 interview with Charlie Sheen on ABC. I think everything that is going on in this situation is interesting and I am taking it as a learning experience for me, since I want to go into the entertainment field of PR.
The publicist for Charlie resigned yesterday in the midst of Charlie interviewing with different media outlets and going on a rampage. It is obvious that the publicist knew that Charlie was going to be uncompromising and uncontrollable.
It made me think- at what point does a publicist pull out of a situation and at what point do they step up to a challenge?
At the end of the day- a publicist is not a babysitter. And with Charlie - he needs a babysitter, therapist and a good rehab center. So it is VERY understandable why his PR person dipped out and ran for the hills! In the same situation, I would have to admit I would do the same.
It is always good to put your client in high priority, but if the situation is dangerous or about to ruin your credibility - it's time to put yourself first.
It is so weird...we, as students of PR, are always told to flee when asked to do something unethical. In addition, we are conditioned to tolerate even the harshest of clients. In almost any other PR crisis, the publicist who bails would lose his credibility and courtesy in the industry for not sticking it out.
ReplyDeleteAnd yet, this is the one instance where the rulebook and PR textbook go out the window. I would have bailed too the first time Sheen opened his mouth after he found out of his fate on "Two And A Half Men." He is a bag of looney toons; those poor kids, what with Sheen's history of alocohol and drugs, the split from Denise Richards...ugh, a shame.
I have no idea when I myself will know the limit when enough is enough. I think I would be naive enough to remain in the trenches until certain death is all but guaranteed as my future. And oddly enough, for the communications and service industry that is PR, we do have to keep a pulse on how this affects us and our personal career.
Nice post Doll!
Seeing Charlie in all these interviews is so sad, and he's literally inviting everyone to watch his downward spiral.
ReplyDeleteYou definitely have to know when you've crossed the line between publicist and babysitter, but I'm not exactly sure where that line is having never been put in this situation. I hope I'd know my limit when I crossed it, though.
I also just posted about Charlie Sheen, and I just think that it's interesting that Charlie Sheen, an actor with an addiction problem who has clearly gone off the deep end lately, is getting so much press.
ReplyDeleteThere are so many other things going on in the world such as, oil (with gas prices going up) and how it is affecting food prices, etc. The ongoing struggle in the Middle East is also always an important topic. Yet I bet more people know more about Charlie Sheen than they do about national news. I must admitt (sadly) that if I were not a PR student, that lack of awareness would probably apply to me as well.
I have been DYING to write about Charlie Sheen for days and yet still have not had the time to do so. In other words, I'm so glad you have! I must say, Charlie Sheen is the limelight of the entertainment world and by not having a publicist, he could potentially ruin his career forever. I also thought about what I would do if I was his publicist. Clearly, she ran far away because like you said, he does need more than a publicist at this point and is probably way past out of control.
ReplyDeleteI have to say I agree with you, I also think that I would have taken the next flight out to no man's land as long as my name was not connected in any way to Charlie Sheen any longer. There is always the other route where you could possibly stay and deal with a client so far gone as Charlie, but then where does it stop? Would you ever even receive any sort of credit or would the damage that was done over power anything you as a publicist tried to do for your client. I guess in some ways it could be a tough decision, but in other ways you have to know when something could be detrimental to your own career.
This is so true! I think deciding when to leave a client would definitely be a tough decision to make, especially looking back on all the work you have put into their career so far. But I guess when it gets to a certain point you know when to call it quits.
ReplyDeleteThis was a great post! I definitely agree with everything you said. At some point, you must worry about your reputation too. It is clear that Charlie Sheen is only caring about himself in this crazy rant, so why shouldn't the publicist. I only advise this in certain situations, but Charlie Sheen's publicist was doing the right thing! The whole situation is such a shame.
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