Avoiding PR Disaster: Lessons from Celebrity Mishaps in 2024
Welcome to your unofficial guide on how not to handle a PR scandal, using celebrities’ biggest missteps to illustrate what to avoid when disaster strikes. This guide will feature four elaborate steps, with celebrity examples, detailing what to avoid doing if you are looking to be a camera-loving, star-studded, celebrity one day. These tales of poor decisions and “did they really do that?” moments are here to guide, and most importantly, amuse you.
Don’t Deny, Deflect, and Double Down…
When backlash struck Chris Pratt for a controversial comment during one of his film promotions, he took the classic “deny and deflect” approach. Instead of addressing the backlash seriously, he accused the media of twisting his words. This response only fueled the public’s frustration, making it seem like he was dodging accountability.
Lesson Learned: Avoid blaming others for your missteps. Acknowledge the criticism directly, address the concerns, and try to regain trust through transparency and humility.
Don’t Market Serious Topics Like They’re a Runway Show (Looking at you, Blake Lively)
Blake Lively’s press tour for It Ends with Us, a film about domestic violence, veered off course when she chose to focus on her outfits and promoting her hair-care line. Instead of addressing the film’s heavy themes, she unintentionally transformed interviews into mini showcases. This lack of sensitivity did not go unnoticed, with fans calling out the tone-deaf promotion.
Lesson Learned: When your project involves delicate or sensitive issues, ensure your messages are consistent. Keep focus on the story.
Don’t Empower with the Wrong Partners
Katy Perry’s latest single, “Woman’s World,” was meant to celebrate female empowerment until fans noticed she collaborated with Dr. Luke, a producer with a controversial history, including allegations with Kesha. To add to the backlash, Perry shot a music video in a protected area, causing environmental concerns. The contrast between her message and her actions made her attempts seem hollow.
Lesson Learned: When promoting values like empowerment or social responsibility, partnerships matter. Audiences are savvy, and they expect celebrities to practice what they preach. Aligning with people and causes that reflect your message strengthens credibility; partnering with controversial figures, however, can destroy it.
Don’t Keep Escalating (The Kanye West Strategy)
Kanye West, or Ye as he calls himself, has long embraced controversy, but this year he seemed to push it even further. Between his inciting statements and ongoing lawsuits, he keeps adding fuel to his PR fires. The endless headlines only seem to exhaust the public’s patience, making him look unpredictable and unstable rather than intriguing.
Lesson Learned: When facing a PR crisis, sometimes the best approach is to lay low. A quiet, measured response often helps people refocus and gives you space to repair your reputation.
Final Takeaway: The Golden Rules for Managing a PR Crisis
Properly navigating a public image crisis is about reading the room, being transparent, and showing audiences you respect their values. The celebrity missteps of 2024 have highlighted a few essential do’s and don’ts for handling PR disasters:
Acknowledge the problem: Taking responsibility is almost always better than avoiding the blame. Blaming others, including the media, only makes things worse.
Match your messaging to your audience: When representing sensitive themes, it's essential to align with the story’s tone. Tone-deaf marketing can, and will, always come off as out of touch, insensitive, or even offensive.
Be mindful of partnerships: Your collaborators can elevate or derail your message. Work with people and brands who reinforce your values.
Know when to take a break: In times of crisis, escalating further only adds fuel to the fire. Silence, when paired with genuine behind-the-scenes efforts to improve, can work wonders for public perception.
In 2024, a few stars have provided us with examples of what not to do, making it clear that a poorly managed crisis can quickly spiral into a PR nightmare. With these lessons in hand, public figures, and maybe even us regular folks, can hopefully avoid a similar fate.
About Bri
Bri Is a senior studying Ad/PR with a concentration in PR and also a minor in Applied Communications. This will be her first semester in GrandPR as an Account Associate. She works as a Student Manager at the 2020 Information Desk. She was also a communications intern at the Holland Museum. After she graduates she would like to work in Communications/PR in Non-Profit.