Hollywood Publicists

I haven’t seen much inside info about this side of the industry and I’m curious about the big names. Is there a rhyme or reason to their client lists? Anyone know any of them personally or tangentially? Obviously that Bragman guy specializes in helping celebrities come out, but what are the others all about - like Allen, Huvane, Karamanos et al?

Jennifer Allen is good with macho male actors, Stephen Huvane is good with glossy female stars, and Evelyn Karamanos is good for nothing.

Many of the top publicists have connections to the top agents, the most well-known being Stephen Huvane of Slate PR, whose brother is CAA uber-agent Kevin Huvane (Streep, Roberts, Aniston, Moore, Cruise, Pitt). So a publicist's client list depends on how well-connected he or she is to the top agents. The boutique PR firms handle the beginners (nobodies), the up-and-comers, and the has-beens.

Interesting R2 - didn’t realize there were such clear agent/publicist links.

Looks like Karamanos reps Channing Tatum. She’s doing a shitty job of stamping out the gay/bi rumors.

Karamanos reps Tatum and Armie Hammer who both have awful PR.

[quote]Karamanos reps Tatum and Armie Hammer who both have awful PR.

Whatever they’re paying her, it’s too much. Why do people stick with PR flacks who do nothing for their careers?

Any publicists besides Bragman who tend to handle a lot of gay (or closeted) clients?

Howard Bragman is a never-was whose clients include Anthony Scaramucci and Camille Grammer. Why are you insistent on hyping him?

I’m not, R8. He’s just the only one I’ve heard of whose focus is gay clients. I Googled around and found surprisingly little info on any of these people.

Simon Halls was once the go to name for gay PR but his star has dimmed. He reps mostly showrunners and directors now including Ryan Murphy and Greg Berlanti. Viewpoint has some out actors including Jodie Foster and Matt Bomer as well a few notable Narnia-seekers (Cavill, Heughan.) Quinto is with Karamanos and Jim Parsons and Lena Waithe are with Jillian Roscoe at ID. I don’t think there’s anyone that really wants the handle of “gay issues handler” anymore.

Top Hollywood publicists - Stephen Huvane, Simon Halls, Ina Treciokas, Robin Baum, Andy Gelb - Slate PR; Meredith O'Sullivan, Leslee Dart, Amanda Lundberg, Amanda Silverman - 42 West; Kelly Bush, Mara Buxbaum - ID-PR; Shawn Sachs, Ken Sunshine - Sunshine Sachs; Nanci Ryder - BWR; Leslie Sloane - Vision PR; Cindi Berger - PMK-BNC; Liz Mahoney, Megan Moss Pachon - Narrative PR

Thanks for that list, R11. Besides the fact that I work in a loosely related field (though not in Hollywood), I suppose most of my interest comes from the sheer volume of smoke and mirrors these people deal with every day and how they pull it off. Or not. It fascinates me that anything can be kept under wraps in this day and age.

All assholes! They are at the bottom of the entertainment ladder so they typically have a complex. They are paid to lie. They make agents look like Mother Theresa.

Yeah, I figured it’s hard to get anywhere in that business if you can’t be a raging bitch.

Do they have ANY standards as far as how low they will stoop on a client’s behalf?

It seems like it would be a really boring job unless you're the type who gets off on being around celebrities and the glitz.

R15, boring is probably not the word I'd use.

Soul-destroying seems more accurate, assuming they have souls.

But you might get lucky and meet a younger, successful, wealthy, handsome actor who is devoted to you and your children.

Only Simon Halls is that lucky

R18 Maybe that’s why his star has dimmed. Harder to be an asshole if you’re happy.

Simon Halls has a horrible reputation, he was taking on clients no one wanted (Brett Ratner and Bryan Singer) and tried to rehabilitate their images with a lot of empty philanthropy. Only when #MeToo happened did he abandon them.

I wish there were some kind of tell-all book on the Hollywood publicity machine 101 and its bag of dirty tricks. Not that any power publicist would allow it to see the light of day, I guess.

Simon Halls has a horrible reputation with 1 or 2 obsessed posters on DL.

Sir Ridley Scott, Ang Lee, Tom Ford, Jude law, Annette Bening, Frances mcDormand have been happy with his services for years.

His career may be drawing to a natural close anyway. Matt is more than capable of supporting the family without to much effort.

[Quote] as well a few notable Narnia-seekers (Cavill, Heughan.)

Lol great description.

I was in the PR business back when Pat Kingsley at PMK ruled the roost (with a client roster that included Tom Cruise, Jodie Foster, Al Pacino, Will Smith, Ellen Degeneres, Lily Tomlin, etc.). I didn't work for PMK, but they were the big leagues that all upcoming flacks aspired to.

I worked for the smaller boutique agencies, and even those small time clients worked my nerves. They were making five to ten times my salary, but they kept demanding freebies for themselves and their brothers and sisters and best friends. If one received a Gucci gift bag worth $2,000, they'd call and ask if I would contact Gucci and ask for another for a friend. One client received a free Suzuki motorcycle, but it wasn't the model he liked, so he asked me to contact Suzuki and get the one he wanted. But, oh, he was keeping the one he received because he was giving it to his roommate!

We'd get clients free loaner clothes to wear for an event and they wouldn't give it back. So we'd beg and beg on behalf of the designer's people, and eventually they'd return them to us dirty and worn down from too much use. I grew to hate celebrities and the whole celebrity culture, and I left the business after seven years. I needed to do something more productive than hold celebrities hands and feed their large egos.

[Quote] I grew to hate celebrities and the whole celebrity culture, and I left the business after seven years.

Can't say i blame you.

R25 Great info! Thank you! Please share more if you can and are so inclined. What were the big tactics you used to change a celebrity’s narrative or create an image? I imagine it’s a different ballgame now with social media (especially the ones who handle their own accounts).

R27, we had one former star whose career was in a slump due to his predilection for cocaine and hard and fast living. We tried to rehabilitate his image by having him portrayed in magazines as a repentant and devoted family man. We also got him involved in charity work and made sure ET and Access Hollywood cameras were there to record the events. Everything fell by the wayside when he got arrested for drunk driving. My boss sat him down and told him we couldn't miraculously make him hot again. He would have to work at fixing himself. They mutually agreed to part ways after that meeting. At least, that's what we were told.

It was important for PR agencies to have at least one or two big-named clients to use as leverage. If People magazine wanted to do a coverstory on Miss A-List Client, you would agree to it only if People agreed to do features or little items on four of your B or C list clients. Similarly, if Regis and Kelly (back then) wanted Mr. A-List Client, they would have to do a segment on Miss B-List Client. If you didn't have any A-listers or hot up-and-comers, you were in trouble and your clients were relegated to local media outlets and hairstyle magazines.

Yes, it is a whole different ballgame now. Not only with social media, but the whole nature of celebrity has changed. We live in a world where the Kardashians and youtube personalities land the magazine covers, get invited to A-List events, and make all the entertainment headlines. And now there are a plethora of online entertainment sites that feature anybody from reality tv stars to internet sensations, so is there no one that they will not cover?

Fascinating, R28. Thank you for that. And like R26 said, I can’t blame you for saying enough is enough.

I always thought of it as a job that didn't take a lot of brains and was for shallow people.

R30 Shallow is one thing, but I don’t know how you could do that job well if you weren’t smart enough to think fast on your feet and come up with a spin.

R1, I temped for her for a few days quite a while ago, saw a bunch of email correspondence with famous people while filing. Shocked to see Ricky Martin paid 50,000 for a campaign. Also, saw Jodie’s personal email address which included an interesting word. No, I’m not telling.

[quote]Shocked to see Ricky Martin paid 50,000 for a campaign.

DAMN. What kind of campaign was it?

By “her” I assume you mean Jennifer Allen.

[Quote] we had one former star whose career was in a slump due to his predilection for cocaine and hard and fast living. We tried to rehabilitate his image by having him portrayed in magazines as a repentant and devoted family man. We also got him involved in charity work and made sure ET and Access Hollywood cameras were there to record the events. Everything fell by the wayside when he got arrested for drunk driving.

Reminds me of Ben Affleck.

They are a bunch of little Donald Trumps. Testy, thin-skinned, ego maniacal. Every word out of their mouths is a lie.

R34 Based on the era I was guessing Tim Allen.

say what you want about Howard Bragman but Daddy is a fantastic fuck

[quote]Yes, it is a whole different ballgame now. Not only with social media, but the whole nature of celebrity has changed...now there are a plethora of online entertainment sites that feature anybody from reality tv stars to internet sensations, so is there no one that they will not cover?

I’m wondering, R28, what with publicity easily rolling over into over-saturation, if a celebrity’s image will go the way of autographs, in that the less-frequently encountered ones will become the more valuable, sought-after commodity and all the rest will be reduced to litter.

Perhaps the over-exposed will actually bring down magazine sales and tv ratings, and attention whores will be seen for what they are: placeholders until the real deal comes along.

[quote]If People magazine wanted to do a coverstory on Miss A-List Client, you would agree to it only if People agreed to do features or little items on four of your B or C list clients.

How common is it for the reverse to happen? In other words, a client gets papped or otherwise caught in a compromising situation and the publicist pays someone to keep the images/news under wraps.

[quote]Perhaps the over-exposed will actually bring down magazine sales and tv ratings, and attention whores will be seen for what they are: placeholders until the real deal comes along.

I hope you’re right, but I’m cynical enough to doubt it.

Who's DiCaprio's publicist? S/he makes up so many lies

R44 At one point it was Sunshine Sachs, not sure if he’s switched.

[Quote] Perhaps the over-exposed will actually bring down magazine sales and tv ratings, and attention whores will be seen for what they are: placeholders until the real deal comes along.

A Karda$hians worst nightmare.

[Quote] How common is it for the reverse to happen? In other words, a client gets papped or otherwise caught in a compromising situation and the publicist pays someone to keep the images/news under wraps.

I bet it happens all the time.

Great read, R47. Thanks for posting.

R42, yes, that happens, and that's when you call Marty Singer.

More, please................

Brad Pitt's publicist pays tabs every week to write fake dating stories for his gay client

R51 LOL, nice one..............But anything that is actually true?

I’d bet half of those stupid blind items are planted by publicists.

We worked at Rogers & Cowan Beverly Hills as an assistant account exec for a time!

Pat Kingsley was shit-hot back in the day.

Would select the WRITERS for magazine or newspaper articles on clients, and get those celebrity clients access to articles before they came out for approval.

Heavy clout.

This whole industry depresses me if I think too long about it.

R57 It'd be worse if you were working in that industry.

R58 Is that why they all seem so dead-eyed?

No, I think it's the greed R59

Huvane’s brother, Kevin, is a pretty nice guy, at least whenever I run into him. I had no idea who he was for quite a while when I made his acquaintance, via mutual friends. Always genuinely friendly, interested in “so, what’s going on with you?”, and very sweet. I have no idea how he conducts himself professionally, so I have almost zero insight on that one.

I know very little about this stuff. Well, I know some, but have never been interested enough to dig deep.

LA is an odd place. If you’re young, good looking, and friendly, you end up around so many people in the industry.

What stuff do you know? Would you like to share? R61

Who is Riz Ahmed's California publicist? He's with CAA.

This woman has long dark blond straight hair, always looks coked out of her mind(she twitches her nose a lot), she has a permanent scowl on her face. This woman always looks utterly miserable. If she hates her job so much, how about getting a real one?

At every red carpet event Riz has been interviewed, she hovers over him as if he's a child and always gives side-eye to the interviewers. Riz has a rep for being overly protective of his personal life, he lied about being single for years, he was in a longterm relationship which ended last Summer. Yet, not one red carpet interviewer has veered towards very personal questions. Most are related to his current project and "What are you wearing?", the usual questions. Why is Riz CAA publicist so paranoid?

R63 wasn’t that girl he dated into sex parties? I can bet all you want he didn’t want his fans to find out about that...

R62, no.

I have some close friends in the industry. The ones whom I’m close to know my shit, and I know theirs, but I’m not going to post about that on DL.

I don’t mind posting about silly shit, and stuff that has no serious impact on people. I’ll also opine about people whose stuff is already out there, and is public knowledge. But I’m not going to discuss private shit about people I care about.

EVERYONE is human. EVERYONE has challenges. Money and fame will never stop adversity from popping up in our lives, and oftentimes make it worse.

R65 ok, so why is Evelyn such a bad publicist and still get work?

[quote][R63] wasn’t that girl he dated into sex parties? I can bet all you want he didn’t want his fans to find out about that...

Yes, that was her, a poor little rich trust funder going wild in the big bad city, she's from a very conservative but wealthy city, Islamabad. When Riz initially hooked up with her, she was based in NYC. She actually worked at the UN for awhile. Wonder if she got fired due to people finding out what she did in her free time.

She posted tons of photos of herself in lingerie taken at those sex parties, hardly a person who should be representing the UN. There were also photos of her at the site of the sex party organization as well as other photos taken by a Terry Richardson wannabe NYC party photographer named Nicky, lots of photos of her at his website. Yet Riz wrote lyrics about her, claiming she was "so shy around them cameras." If his fans only knew! There was also a rumour Riz had a coke habit.

This woman's hard partying was going on while Riz was off working on his films and TV series. She moved to London early 2016 to live with Riz, before splitting, they only lived together a little over year. For guy who attended Oxford, what horrible choice for a GF. Their relationship was likely open, if you're in a serious relationship, who puts up with a partner attending sex parties? Dude must be teeming with STDs.

I can't imagine being in a worse profession than being a Hollywood publicist

R68 Commme onnnnnnnnnnnn...... A coal miner, a factory worker, a supermarket check out person.......etc....

I would love to be a HW publicist; it's like being Simon Halls or David Geffen.

Well, if your clients are only hot dudes, then yeah. Anyway, to the user who’s willing to share some innocent gossip...Just write what you think it’s harmless in the long run.

R70, HW is a fucked up and dirty little town, but there’s nothing quite like it, and it was fun as fuck.

R68, agree w/ you 100%. I deliberately steered away from working in the industry. I did for a minute, and that ended in huge scandal (at DEN, and that was more tech/entertainment, rather than studio or agency work).

Partying with some of these assholes is one thing. Working for them? Fuck no.

The devil's playground as they say. No morals, no dogma.

This is a group of men -- masons -- that had Harvey Weinstein, literally a stool in the toilet of a man, being worshipped and rich and powerful and dominating.

Burn the whole place to the ground.

R71 who are the actors who have a bad reputation? Maybe you can confirm some of them.

R63, CAA is a talent agency, not a publicity firm.

Liz Rosenberg handles Madonna and Cher, with clients like that she must be very expensive yet somehow Stevie Nicks can afford her

R72, I’m not trying to be a bitch, but you know very little about Hollywood, if you think these people are Masons.

Have you ever actually met Masons? They’re boring, old, white dudes, who wear funny little hats and pins, and hang out at a steakhouse for lunch near the Burbank Airport, while having a few whiskey glasses before heading back to the office. They might try to fuck their cute secretary, but that’s about it. Oh, and golf. They love golf.

Where did this Mason legend come from? JFC, Hollywood is balls deep with Jews, not Masons.

Ok, let’s change question, which actors are good to work with and don’t give you shit?

They are generally speaking horribly shallow assholes, but if you're nice to them, they'll get you free stuff.

So it's the publicists who get the free designer clothes for their clients? I thought it was the stylists. Or are they working in tandem? Whatever, except for a few stars, most of them are dressed horribly in expensive ill-fitting clothes that are not flattering. Sure they save a few bucks. What's the point if they look terrible in photos and on tv?

[quote]CAA is a talent agency, not a publicity firm.

What's the difference? I always thought the talent agency provided the publicists. What's the talent agency's function? Booking Riz acting gigs?

If that's the case, Riz is paying a lot of people: his CA based manager, his CA based talent agency as well as three publicists. He publicists ib LA, NYC and London, all women and a female agent in London. That's a lot of money for a guy who is barely worth four million.

Riz does get a ton of high end freebies, as R79 asked, who provides all the free clothes and accessories? There's no way an actor who isn't A-List is shelling out $895 for one pair of Vuitton sneakers.

I can’t vouch for her personality but Leslee Dart is very good at her job.

A bio of Pat Kingsley dealing with Tom Cruise would be fun

This is gossip? About Hollyweird publicists?

Riz Ahmed's publicists are Lindsay Galin and Michelle Schwartz from Rogers & Cowan.

A talent agent gets you the acting gigs, the talent manager manages your career, the publicist gets you publicity by booking your press tours, getting you on talk shows, radio programs, magazine covers, vip parties, red carpet events, etc. Usually, when starting out, you hire a well-connected manager who will set you up with meetings with talent agencies and publicity firms. Sometimes you can forgo a personal publicist and use a studio publicist if you are on a tv series or only concerned about publicity when promoting a current job.

The great Pat Kingsley was Tom Cruise's guardian angel. Steering the press away from too much prying and making sure to keep the crazy out of the press. When Tom wanted to talk more openly about Co$, she said "No way," and he promptly fired her. But without her, his once sterling reputation went into a tailspin.

Her bitter split with business partner Leslee Dart is another story for the books.

Eww dealing with all the cunty egos of those country bumpkin trash who are now stars or studio heads. No thanks. I have no taste for dingleberries.

This is really a good thread. Keep up!

More please about the Kingsley Dart split

Miranda Priestly says get me Leslie on the line which was a nod to Dart who works with Streep

[quote]Riz Ahmed's publicists are Lindsay Galin and Michelle Schwartz from Rogers & Cowan.

Lindsey is the blond I saw Riz with in NYC, she didn't seem as annoying as the other one with the permanent scowl. Here she is with Riz in 2016 Riz, about to enter Colbert's NYC studio.

R83, is this Michelle Schwartz? She's the woman in the background, to the left in this photo, with the twitchy nose. This photo is from the 2017 HBO Golden Globes after party. This woman is always with Riz when he's at some Hollywood/LA event.

Again, how does Riz pay all these people? Do they get paid a steady check or get paid on a sort of a freelance/per diem basis when they accompany him to events or are actually working to get him speaking gigs and guest appearances on talk shows etc.

Honestly, I don't understand how he can have all these people on his payroll especially as he's hardly A-List.

Best ppl in the biz, r91.

He should be kissing their asses daily.

Who is John C. Reilly's agent? This is random, but I recall a friend of a friend knowing his agent personally, they were saying, she was "an extremely difficult person". John comes across as a super sweet guy, you never hear anything bad or scandalous about him, I'm wondering why he'd hire such a nasty agent.

Is being difficult, and just plain mean, a prerequisite to work in showbiz? There seems to be so many angry, mean and dysfunctional people working in this field. Not just the performers, even the behind-the-scenes people seem to be entitled arrogant assholes.

If only fans knew how most of these people were in real life, they'd be pissed they're paying their hard earned buck son so many of them.

When an actor gets paid for his work (in a movie or on a TV show) each handler gets his cut. That's why actors like to do side business (women being yacht girls, for example) so they keep more of the money for themselves. Also there are some back-end deals like when actors own their own trailer and the production pays them rent for using their own trailers instead of the production company having to rent / provide a trailer for the actor. Remember the the incident with Taylor Lautner making a fuss about the trailer he received not being the one he ordered? That's what the trailer was for.

Taylor Lautner making demands about a trailer is laughable.

WHET Taylor, btw?

Hollywood publicists are the ones who release official statements and handle their clients' promotion press tours. You know the reason why PR disasters happen most of the time? The production hires its own PR firm handling the press tour and they have no fucking clue how to handle the actor (which topics the reporters should avoid, what the actor needs to get, and remain, in a pleasant mood, etc.). Actors are TERRIBLE dealing with newbies, not knowing each other, and lose patience fast (overwhelmed by the stress of playing nice). And some are just assholes who like to shit on others and yet you need to make them look nice and presentable for the press. And that's best done by those who know the actor and his or her mood swings and personal needs.

The bigger clients also let their publicist handle their social media presence and it gets handled according to the image the client has. Say, the client has some special cause he cares for. A publicist representative (usually some intern) posts as the star and gushes / geeks out about the latest news about said cause and also reminds his or her followers about the latest project, or projects, the celebrity is involved with. Usually these accounts stay far away fom controversies and barely, say, retweet other Twitter comments (unless they are movie or TV show related).

Will Smith is another who has his own trailer and expects the movie production to pay rent to him for using his own trailer.

Are there some nice actors to work with? Dunno, George Clooney? Joseph Gordon Levitt? Tom Hardy?

I know a talent agent and she’s a pushy bossy thing for whom everything is a grab for whatever she can get. Every interaction with her is a blatant negotiation to come out with an advantage. I’ve never seen anyone so unabashed. It’s almost pathological.

And there’s no quid pro quo. I know a PR professional who reciprocates - do her a favor and she’ll hook you up. Which is why everyone loves knowing her. She’s a favor broker and no one ever feels shafted.

The woman in r99 is a USER and burns bridges. If she wants something and I can give it, I’ll refrain just to spite that bitch.

N.b. This is in NYC, not Hollywood but I felt compelled to chime in.

Overall, it seems like a lot of sociopaths work in showbiz. We should not be surprised.

When there is suddenly a celebrity on the scene who seems too good to be true, we usually find out they are. Their good guy or good gal persona is all a facade. They're that good a performer, they can pull it off.

I do think there are some (keyword: SOME) actors who really are nice people. There's a handful who you never really hear a bad word from. However, I'd say 80-90% have some serious issues.

R102 who are the nice actors?

Most of these people are AWFUL -- unattractive, fame-obsessed, charisma-free (sometimes introverted but CLINGING to the job as if it makes them powerful people). Slate PR is a joke.

R105 I’d like to know some A listers...

It's a requirement to be a manipulative asshole to protect your clients' career, because in this business, or world in general, people only care for their own self interest or advantage.

The media wants something that gets people's attention. Scandals do that, but no credible celebrity wants to be involved in a public scandal, but since they are just flawed humans (like the rest of us) they need protectors to protect them and their secrets. A publicist makes sure the media is only reporting what they approve first though whatever means necessary (bribes, threats, deals, etc.). And the media plays along. Especially now that they have created their own stars (reality tv stars like the Kardashians) who are more than willing to provide trashy scandals for ratings and magazine covers.

[quote]The media wants something that gets people's attention. Scandals do that, but no credible celebrity wants to be involved in a public scandal, but since they are just flawed humans (like the rest of us) they need protectors to protect them and their secrets.

So what about a situation such as when Hammer got caught liking BDSM on social media and then kept at it after the story got out? Calculated faux scandal for media attention? Or did he just not give a fuck? If his publicist was supposed to be protecting him, something went sideways there.

I just remembered being on gay.com and created a profile to sell worn underwear ( never followed thru) but a giy from Minnesota said he was interested in buying, and that he was Dakota Fanning’s publicist. Not sure if he was lying.

R108, what’s wrong with BDSM? Not for everyone, but much more common than people think, and pretty tame, compared to SCAT, or something that is actually illegal.

BDSM is pretty widely accepted in our society. Midwest frauen are not Hammer’s target audience, but even Midwest frauen get kinky, surely.

50 Shades of Grey made BDSM appealing to fraus.

What would be illegal? R110

R108 Nothing’s wrong with BDSM at all. It just doesn’t seem like the kind of thing an actor would want to broadcast.

^ Sorry, meant R110. I’m R108.

Best - Streep, Kidman, Moore (the ladies of The Hours)

Worst, hands down, Julia Roberts

Julia is a ball of wax all into herself. However, Julia made it. Good for her.

They're all garbage slangers ...

Look at Kristen Stewart, can't get a movie to save her life but her PR team instructs her to do paparazzi shots every day going to the spa, buying cigarettes, drinking at cafe figaro, going to Birds on Franklin, or blowing her nose. They often tell her to give the middle finger to maintain her image. Nobody follows her around trying to get a picture of her. All manufactured by PUBLIC RELATIONS AND PUBLICISTS. They don't know what else to do.

It's all PR crap.

I don’t know why they still cast her in movies....what do they see in her? R118

R119 I take it you won't be watching her in Charlie's Angels then?

R118 I thought she was very successful; I mean she is still working and there was a time when she was ubiquitous.

Isn't Stewart's mom some bigshot in Hollywood? Apparently some people find Stewart's rebellious anti Hollywood glam stance appealing (not realizing that's as fake as any other public image in Hollywood).

Who knows Scooter Braun, and will faking engagements kill your soul?

[Quote] Her father, John Stewart, is a stage manager and television producer who has worked for Fox[6] and on the Comedy Central show @midnight. Her mother, Jules Mann-Stewart, is originally from Maroochydore, Queensland, Australia. She is a script supervisor and has also directed a film, the 2012 prison drama K-11.

R122 I don't know if i'd call her a bigshot.

A lot of these PR people are very vindictive, and will plant horrible stories about other people's clients to save their own. Simon Halls is very tough. His partner Steven Huvane is power mad. His biggest clients Gwyneth and Jennifer have pathetic public images. Aniston has become America's dumpee on her way to spinster land and Gwyneth is a nightmare. She is a terrible snob who refers to other actors as White trash. But she has convinced the world that Brad Falchuk is straight, at least until he wakes up with a dick in his mouth.

I’ve always wondered what happens when a celebrity switches publicists. I mean, the old publicist knows all the skeletons in the closet (I assume, otherwise how would they control the narrative?). Do they have to sign NDAs or something before the client leaves for a new rep?

R125, Steven Huvane must not be vry good if Paltrow and Aniston have such shitty reps. Or are you saying someone else has planted those stories. I have noticed that none of the goodwill for Downey's Marvel films has extended to her.

Jeremy Renner is another person that rents his bus to the production.

Anyway, he dropped his publicist of almost a decade some months ago.

How is Susan Patricola viewed in the bussiness?

Jeremy seemed to do the opposite of what she suggest in this article.

"Do they have to sign NDAs or something before the client leaves for a new rep? "

I should imagine they sign the NDAs before they start learning the client's secrets in the first place.

Worked briefly with Sue Patricola back when she was partnered with David Lust at Patricola Lust PR in the mid-2000s. The woman smoked like a chimney... at her desk. The the entire place smelled like an ashtray. Typical old school PR matriarch, who guided her clients with decorum and protected them from bad press. So unlike the young gals who would take over in later years. The ones who would compete with their own clients for party invites and tabloid headlines (I'm looking at you, Lizzie Grubman!)

[quote]mid-2000s

Er, I meant mid-1990s. I'm still trying to wrap my head around the fact that it was so long ago. It seemed like yesterday.

R131 is typing from her grave.

R130 Thank you very much for sharing. Don't worry, I also think the 90's ended a couple of years ago.

The meanest fag cunt publicist of all time was the late Bobby Zarem. He was a fat raving queer who hated Liz Smith and outed her by inviting people to her wedding to her then girlfriend, Iris Love. He would also hit on every make model in New York, including Michael Bergin during his Carolyn Besette days and offer all sorts of film roles he couldn't deliver. He spent all his time at Elaines and would go out of his way to make your life miserable if he felt slighted by you. He taught Peggy Siegel everything she knows. Both of these losers ultimately destroyed their careers by being so vile to people that nobody wanted to work with them. Siegel was at least rich from her New Jersey parents. Zarem is broke and moved home to Savannah supported by his family. He's at least 80, but looks 89.

R85, country bumpkin trash don't become studio heads. Studio heads have more or less all gone to Harvard Law.

R93, that's very common. The "nice guy" actors are so paranoid about their public image they never ever want to ever look douchey, so they hire ferocious representation. The meaner the better so they can go through life going "aw shucks, I'm just happy to be here". Never trust an actor. They fake emotions for a living.

99. ENTERTAINMENT LAWYER 07/09 **#9** This permanent A list mostly movie actress who tried to get another Oscar a couple years ago is making another push this year. She has a movie that is being released at the end of the year and is sinking $1M of her own money just to advertise herself and is being matched by the production company and distributor. She will do whatever it takes this time to get another Oscar. Julia Roberts ("Ben is Back")

What would be her other movie? R137

I took some PR classes in college because I figured that I could use my marketing degree to become a Hollywood publicist.

This thread has been super informative.

Anyone who leaks stuff about their clients to the press or on social media, as revenge for getting dumped, is done in Hollywood. Except maybe in the case where the handlers of One Direction's Zayn Malik ended their business relationship with him and "leaked" it to the press and gossip sites that they tried so many times to get Zayn off drugs, but he takes even more and becomes unmanagable to the point he can't fulfil his professional duties.

Well, even a blind person could have seen that. R141

R141 like other musicians, actors, directors, producers, etc.... don't do drugs, haven't done drugs and will not do it in the future....please. It goes with the territory. I thought it was very unprofessional of her to have done that to Zayn or to anyone else.

Sue Mengers ruined it for everyone

r143 if he was in danger of dying, then they'd want to cover their own asses. They'd get the added benefit of leaving for greener pastures, and the "I just couldn't handle it--we tried everything. It was so sad" trope. So he doesn't OD when they're in his orbit, and they virtue signal.

I've worked as an entertainment journalist in LA on and off over the years and pubs have been the bane of my existence, but I learned well into my career they do a lot of things; they take care of a million details in advance and no one thanks them for it.

You know why?

B/c the details are taken care of; nobody notices what goes right, just what goes wrong. Talent will suck up to me like we're long lost BFFs but privately blast pubs like they're the hired help. No excuse for that.

I've learned to accept that they have job just as I do and not to take things personally.

Is it a good gig R146? Is the pay good? what are the perks?

R147, it never paid super-well; now, social media has been a game changer -- why does a publication need to pay me to develop a rapport with an actor and his p.r. team to get a scoop when the actor just tweets out what he wants people to know? People want information for free.

There's still some work, but not what there used to be.

I'm actively looking outside while, for now, it's still paying the pills.

The perks have been amazing; some travel, being paid to watch TV, being paid to talk to celebs, many of whom I've admired for years.

There are crazies: One performer got a little weirded out I knew 'too much' about her career and then took offense when I didn't know enough about a particular project. And a few pubs are really, really angry; they hate their jobs, their lives...I should have crossed the street more than once.

I've realized you can't win with anyone else; you can't control what people think or feel. You can just trust yourself and if you know you've done an honorable job with integrity that's all you need.

Overall, I can't say I would have traded the experiences. We all make our choices. I just need a great Act 3. Hopefully, I'll get it.

I always thought Pat Kingsley was overpaid until after Tom dumped her and then he went on Oprah and started jumping up and down on her sofa proclaiming he's straight.

Many who had never heard a gay rumor about him until then never thought of him the same after that.

Can we get more stories about Pat Kingsley?

Pat Kinglsey had MAJOR league pull.

Kingsley would woo and recruit potential clients by promising to choose the writers to pen their stories in their interviews and articles in GQ and NY Times and all the mags and papers, and then would promise to get the client -- whether it was a big name actor or director or even top screenwriters like Joe Eszterhas -- final approval on the article itself. Which is unheard of.

Impressive.

Eszterhas in his memoir said he met with Kingsley who told him

Ent. Reporter, here; some big names will ask for copy approval; some will ask for their quotes to be read back to them.

Unless I'm doing an expose I don't have a problem going over things with subjects for clarity.

One wise ass celeb said to me after I took out my recorder once and said 'okay, to record? for accurate notes?' he took out HIS recorder and said 'no, I don't mind. do you mind if I record too?'

When I was in high school I was addicted to this campy soap opera called Sunset Beach, and got involved with its online fandom (looking back, I was closeted and probably depressed). The publicist for one of the lead actresses, a guy named Howie Simon, was heavily involved with the show's online fanbase and was completely psychotic. This actress (Susan Ward) fucked her way to a role in some cheesy B-movie and I remember him going to the fan forums to crow that when the movie came out it would "shoot Susan to the top of the A-list in Hollywood and she'll be far too good for soaps". He used to get into these crazy flamewars where he'd send emails under his business email address (which went to everyone in the YahooGroup) calling some young fan or other ugly and fat and flat-chested for being upset that their favorite actress had got a boob job and starting doing titty shoots. Then he got kicked out of the YahooGroup and a lot of fans blocked him, so he started sending everyone nasty emails from his personal email. Which is bad enough, except it was an AOL address and clicking on it brought up his AOL profile which had a photo of himself shirtless with the heading "12 INCHES CUT." I often wondered what the soap opera fans, who were mainly tweenagers and fundie housewives, made of that.

Out of curiousity I just googled both of them. She hasn't worked in years, and he looks a thousand years old and is now doing PR for fundie movies about the Rapture.

Pat Kingsley orchestrated Ellen Degeneres' coming out ("Yep, I'm Gay!") PR campaign, but she limited access to only the big mainstream press (Time, Diane Sawyer, Oprah). Gay media (The Advocate et. al.) were excluded. A couple of months later, Degeneres fired her.

r155 she did a great job even without the gay press.

Pat Kingsley was amazing. She managed to get her clients only the puffiest of puff pieces written about them back in the late 80s and early 90s--it was a whole different world then.

Why are people hiding the identity of celebrities on an anonymous gossip site?

^ That is always the case on DL.

WEHT Pat Kingsley, anyway?

Liz Rosenberg was a protégé of Bobby Zarem, which I find slightly ironic since Bobby's nemesis, Liz Smith, was such a big time Madge advocate, you would've thought she was on the payroll.

No, hiding the names of celebrities is for pussies

is Kingsley a lesbian? I think I read that the only ex clients she still talks to are Lily Tomlin and Jodie Foster.

there's a great book about the history of celebrity journalism; how the power has shifted over the years back and forth between press,studios, talent publicists...it NEEDS to be updated for social media.

author is Jeanette Walls and it's called DISH

[quote]women being yacht girls, for example

I found it fascinating when that email circulated a few years ago giving the names of those ‘actresses’ and celebrities who were prepared to whore themelves to arabs in Cannes for top dollar. It was really sensational.

r167 Is there a copy of it anywhere?

R168, I’m not R167, but I picked up a copy of DISH at a used bookstore and thought it was terrific! You should check used stores.

R169 do you remember the names of some of the actresses?

Thanks for the rec, R167. Looks like a fun read.

There’s also a pair of novels, “Blind Item” and “Guilty Pleasure,” written by two industry insiders. The main character is a Hollywood publicist and a big chunk of the plot centers around publicist/client shenanigans. The authors swear every scenario described in the books really happened. Trashy good fun.

^ R166, not R167. My bad.

So much more effective and easier when studios controlled the publicity of actors.

I think a few of the above overlapped; some wanted to know the names of the actresses in the email; others wanted dish on ...DISH.

I ran across this old DL thread while searching for something else. If you scroll down there’s a ton of great info on the Hollywood PR machine and how it operates.

Where did our insiders go? Come back.

Social media has changed EVERYTHING.

There's shit actors used to never discuss and now they won't shut up about it on Twitter and Instagram.

Julia Roberts will never win another Oscar. She plays the same persona in every film. I've never seen her alter her manner of speaking or anything. Same shit every time. She's a "personality" not an "actress."

No one ever discusses the "Hollywood Bubble" and monetized the fallout of a celebrity-interest collapse. I assume they predict endless public fawning so as to keep it propped up. Think of the tentacles of economy it creates!

R177 There is no mystique left at all, sadly. It’s a chicken-and-egg thing to me. Do they overshare at their publicists’ urging? Or did the oversharing come first and push publicists into a competition to stay at the top of the news cycle?

Leo said something a while back. The less you know about an actor the better. Mystery. Mystique.

Now we get daily pictures of actresses, and Jen Lawrence on Fallon show telling the whole world about having bowel issues.

Terrible.

R184 Yes. Just try to imagine, say, Cary Grant or Vivien Leigh doing shit like that.

Here's Riz Ahmed with his sour face LA publicist.

Anyone know why this woman always looks so damn miserable. Those woman never smiles, never. It can't be having to work with Riz, he's has a positive rep. I know people who are friends with him, he's affable funny guy.

What's so difficult about this woman's job?! She works with famous and cool people, she basically has one of the most superficial jobs any human can have, yet she always looks as if she wants to shoot someone. In all the other photos in this group, she has the same lemon sucking expression.

PR is constantly doing damage control and dealing with a number of personalities, not just your client.

[quote]PR is constantly doing damage control and dealing with a number of personalities, not just your client.

Puh-lease, there are much more difficult jobs out there, especially jobs where people earn much much less than publicists and do a lot more work.

I saw Riz's publicist at some music event, I forgot what client she was with, but she spent most of the time staring at her phone, pursing her lips and glaring at the journalists talking to the celebrities. Seems doubtful she was there with more than one client and was annoyed by the questions the journalists were asking. At red carpet events, the TV journalists usually ask fluff questions, nothing personal or deep. '"Who are you wearing?" "How was it working with so & so..?"

There's no reason for this woman to always look so angry. She's the epitome of Resting Bitch Face.

On the surface, PR seems like a glamour job, filled with freebies and all sorts of other perks. All of these publicists know exactly what they were doing entering this field. As the old saying goes, "If you can't take the heat, get the hell out of the kitchen." She could be doing a hell of a lot worse, like folding sweaters at the GAP.

Did the insiders get scared away?

R186, is that Jen Curran?

They seem to be worse liars than Donald Trump.

I think one huge deal that a publicist took care of, Sandra Bullock and Jesse James. Sandra knew what Jesse was up to, they only married so Sandra could get country fans and Jesse did it so he could get main stream fans and that black baby that she adopted, that was spare of the moment because Jesse is a Nazi. So that bullshit that they were going to adopt the child was simply a lie. I have never felt respect for Sandra after that.

R193 Bollock is from Texas and still has a home there. I'm not sure she needed James to get accepted by country fans. She never had a particularly coastal elite type of image anyway. She's always been a down to earth girl next door type.

I remember reading something about a publicist railroading Amanda Seyfried on the red carpet until the poor girl was too intimidated to say anything. Think it was Karmanos. Are they all like that?

Does everyone already have the Riz Ahmed stalker on block? I'm amazed by how much obvious crazy she can post around here without getting called out on it.

Bingo, R196. Had her blocked for a while now.

[quote][R186], is that Jen Curran?

As posted upthread, Riz Ahmed's publicists are Lindsay Galin and Michelle Schwartz from Rogers & Cowan.

Lindsay Galin is his NYC based publicist, last year, she was with Riz at the MET Gala event. Michelle Schwartz has dark hair and seems to be his London based PR person, she was recently with Riz at TIFF. In 2007, she started as a production intern on Rachel Ray's show. Not bad for a few years in the business!

The sour faced LA PR woman with the stringy brown hair, I have no idea what her name is, perhaps someone here can weigh in. She's always with Riz at all his CA based appearances. Lindsay is a blond, she accompanies Riz to NYC events. Michelle Schwartz is usually always with Riz in London and on international press junkets.

R188, is this pub's initials RB?

thanks

Entertainment reporter here; just ONCE I want to say to a pub: Nobody cares. Nobody cares about your client, your demands, you rolling your eyes over the most modest of requests.

Nobody. Cares.

Publicist here R201, Just once I want to tell a journalist: "the question you asked me is answered in the email you replied to. Can you read?"

R201 Care to share more, pretty please? Do you have to agree on interview questions in advance? Do publicists strong-arm you into writing A or B but not X or Y about their clients? Do you get asked or told to give a piece a certain spin?

I dated one. He was extremely self-centered. He would spend entire lunches and dinners - from being seated to paying the check - on the phone, without speaking to me. He had only three clients, all of whom were his friends prior to him becoming a publicist.

I cannot get over this PR chick's always miserable face. Watch her here.

She looks like she just got back from a tour of duty in Afghanistan!

Does a publicist always have to be with their client? Seems a little much.

[quote]Does a publicist always have to be with their client? Seems a little much.

It seems this prune-faced PR woman is always with Riz when he's in California. I've never seen her with him in NYC. Only CA events, she trails him like a shadow and always scowls.

I assume the PR agency sends their 'best' PR person out with whatever celebrity is currently 'hot'.

I’d love to know how many publicists are secretly on DL and read this thread.

R202, that's fair and I get that.

I think I even got that email once or thrice : )

There are great pubs and solid reporters and lousy pubs and awful reporters.

I'm sure if we knew who the other was we'd have a great relationship; maybe we already do?

Howard Bragman’s got a BIG daddy dick and has loves to fuck hard and nasty! I would know...

I believe it R210.

Almost every time I look up some hot young slut on Facebook, HB is a mutual friend

R209 you never know. There are journalists I adore and journalists I loathe, but I always just smile.

I try and make things run smoothly and a lot of journos tell me they like working with me.

R202 R211,

I'm glad; I honestly try to do that too; and I try to treat people the way I want to be treated; reporters know the score and when talent sometimes will vent to me. They'll call the next day and say, gee, I was steamed, could you not write that I mouthed off and I'm like, I wasn't going to. I know what it's like to be frustrated.

That said, call me when you quit your show, call when you book, call me first. :)

One of my favorites recently was trying to arrange coverage for Former-A List actor at XX Large Publication. Spoke to a writer I know there and was told "They are really cutting back on what they let me cover" and it was a pass.

This person has since written several big pieces on projects with NO names because friends were involved.

Don't bullshit a bullshitter. Just tell me you're too busy.

So, people in the know, who are these anonymous sources that are always quoted in celebrity articles? Like, “a source” says they spotted some couple all over each other, or flirting at a party, or whatever.

[quote]WHO is Riz!!!???

Riz is Riz Ahmed, British actor extraordinaire.

Riz won an EMMY in 2017 for HBO's The Night Of. He was in Nightcrawler with Jake G, The Reluctant Fundamentalist with DL fave Kate Judson, Jason Bourne with Matt Damon, Closed Circuit with Eric Bana, the black comedy about British terrorists Four Lions and many other films. He's been acting for over 10 years, but he's been getting more US attention since around 2016.

He's currently in The Sisters Brothers, a comedy Western with Jake G, Joaquin Phoenix and John C. Reilly, as well as VENOM with Tom Hardy.

Riz is also a rapper.

GOOGLE is your friend dearest.

My only opinion about them is that if they get to vote for the Oscars, that the agents should be allowed to too. And that's from a producer who HATES agents.

R216, got it. He's someone most of the world doesn't know or care to know.

Don't hate Ahmed, r218, hate the stalker frau who obsesses over the expression of his publicist.

We need less Riz and more of his publicist's beautiful, serene face.

There's enough hate to go round for the stalker and for Riz Ahmed.

Wow, there's so much hate and vitriol on DL these days.

These vile trolls, that would be you R220 and R221, who are now permeating this once fun forum, are likely former IMDb trolls. I've never seen these sort of responses until the IMDb forums went down. You all came here like a swarm of rabid roaches, ready to spread your filth and vile diseases.

The IMDb trolls are still having a meltdown. Unfortunately, they've found a place, DL, where they can bring their unwarranted hate.

So great what R28 says, because on the other thread on Hollywood unspoken rules, several queens argued that Youtube celebrities weren't celebrities when I posted a link to Jefrey Star or whatever is his name and his rich lifestyle. Good to know you confirm that they have changed the game even though they might be unknown to a lot of people.

R116 about ten years ago I worked for the Brazilian production team of the film Blindness in Sao Paulo. Julianne Moore was the kindest and most down to earth celebrity I've ever met since. There were plenty of exterior scenes with lots of extras in the post apocalyptic story and she would introduce herself personally to all the extras and stuntmen, I can't imagine anyone in Hollywood doing this, but she did it there. First class act and she would sit with everyone for lunch too.

R225. That’s nice. But that was a fucking horrible movie. Took a piece of my soul and didn’t give it back.

Or Jeffree’s publicist at 224.

I know people comment all the time about PR shills posting here, but which celebrities’ publicists do you think actually do it?

You’re probably right for the most part, R230, but I’d bet there are a few higher up the food chain.

Hmm...it depends on who you’re thinking about. Personally, I don’t think publicists of A list actors post here. I could see some who represent C list closed actors or small screen ones.

Nikki Finke isn’t a publicist, is she?

Can someone fill me on press junkets? Bradley Cooper did an interview and it said his day of press started at 7am and he did interviews until 9pm that night!

Morning shows like Gayle King and Stern and then foreign press etc .... i mean to include that. How does this work?

Rose MacGowan's new show has her assistant saying "Rose is doing 72 interviews in the next four days in NYC it's going to be grueling ..."

To promote a new film or tv show, a production's publicity department will book a hotel suite or auditorium and invite the press to interview its stars and director. Sometimes a junket will be one large gathering where the press take turns asking the panel of VIPs questions, take pictures or shoot video, other times a junket will consist of back to back interviews with one or more of its stars. These usually last the whole day, with each media outlet having 15 to 20 minutes of interview time, before being ushered out and the next outlet ushered in. These may even last several days, with one day reserved for radio tours, webcasts, or phoners, the next day for print media, and the following day for digital media.

No one answered my question at R214.

R214, it usually means "we're making this bullshit up and there are no sources."

[quote]So, people in the know, who are these anonymous sources that are always quoted in celebrity articles? Like, “a source” says they spotted some couple all over each other, or flirting at a party, or whatever.

[quote] it usually means "we're making this bullshit up and there are no sources."

EXACTLY.

Does anyone know who luke evans agent is? Is it that chick he photographs with Esmeralda Brajovich? Never heard of her? Anyone?

Are you the Amazing Life of Luke Evans stan, R242?

R244 One seriously messed up individual.

Whose publicist do we think has the hardest job at the moment, i.e. which client is a nightmare to deal with?

R246 I'm guessing Singer's people feel like they are really earning their money.

R247 Rami Malek’s people probably feel the same.

Are there certain publicists and/or PR firms that are known for bearding?

Sorry, signature at R249 should have said “And don’t say all of them.”

With the glut of obviously fake promances being shoved down our throats (looking at you, Shawn/Camila and Tim O’Tay/LRDepp), here’s what I want to know: Why can’t publicists handle these things more smoothly? The way they play out is always so paint-by-numbers. Do they think people still buy these stunts?

I think the industry sounds fucking awesome. These people work damn hard at networking to land these positions and have to fight tooth and nail to keep their spots. It's a very fascinating capitalist system. I wish I would have tried to work for a Hollywood agency.

"Brad Pitt's publicist pays tabs every week to write fake dating stories for his gay client"

R51 - Brad Pitt is gay??? WTF?????

For the County Music people in Nashville, is the PR handled out of Nashville, Hollywood or NYC?

That’s a good question, R255. I’m pretty sure Trisha Yearwood’s with Sunshine Sachs, not sure about the rest.

Daily Mail run an article about Sunshine Sachs after Meghan hired them as her PR firm. Apparently, they specialize in 'crisis communication' and are known for using questionable tactics, like removing negative information from their clients' wikipedia pages . Their client list (according to the article) includes Leonardo DiCaprio, Natalie Portman, Bette Midler, Barbra Streisand, Jennifer Lopez and the Jackson family.

[Quote] With the glut of obviously fake promances being shoved down our throats (looking at you, Shawn/Camila and Tim O’Tay/LRDepp),

Don't forget Hiddleswift.

R258 Or Cavill/Cuoco. Seriously, why can’t they find a way to make these not look ridiculous?

I wanna hear more about Bragman's big dick R210

R259 I don't know. And I guess no one else does either 😄

R257 I think that’s true for all the PR big guns.

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