Sheryl Crow Speaks Too Soon

Sheryl Crow, in an AOL interview on Spinner.com, gets a little too gun ho about collaborating with Fleetwood Mac. She, as reported in an E!News article, said in the interview that she and the classic rock band “definitely have plans for collaborating in the future.”

This is an example of poor communications within the same camp. Internal mixed messages can cause for a lot of confusion and hurt egos.

The classic rock band said in a Reuters article that they were considering Crow as a possibility to add a woman to “shake it up a bit up.” There was no definite agreement between the band or the singer/songwriter that they were going to join forces.

The Starpulse Entertainment blog talks about Lindsey Buckingham’s response to Crow’s “premature” comment.

Considering the fact that the media are around celebrities at all times, it’s very important to make sure that everyone involved in a project are on the same page.

The PR team needs to make sure that celebrities are prepared when chatting with the media. Celebrities have to 1) get the correct information out and 2) keep hush hush on the information that shouldn’t be leaked.

This kind of tactic should also be applied to movies. Movies have been known to take years to develop, which presents a very long window of time for the wrong information and rumors to spread. Rumors are to be expected but having a meeting to prepare the actors and actresses can prevent a large fraction of them. PR management should sit down with all of the key actors and talk about what key messages about the movie are to be discussed with the media and what their role is in disseminating the messages.

By taking this simple measure, management can prevent any confusion not only among the public, but also among the celebrities involved. The last thing anyone needs when developing a partnership is for one of the parties to pull out because they felt like an idiot.

Sheryl Crow image courtesy of ecorazzi.com

P!nk & Carey Hart Divorces; P!nk Speaks Out to Fans

No divorce is easy, especially for those celebrities who find their marital turmoil at the center of media scrutiny.  

But, if you know anything about the papparazzi and the public, they have to know what’s going on. Who did what? Why? Did someone cheated? All the biggies. I’m getting ahead of myself with the question, but I’ll pose it anyway: How do celebrities balance their need for privacy with the public’s need for information?

The mainstream media and the gossip sites (Perez Hilton) reported that singer P!nk (Alicia Moore) and motorcross rider Carey Hart separated after two years of marriage.

With rumors about a coming divorce going around for months, everyone wondered if this was the real deal. Instead of waiting to hear more news about it on the mainstream sites, P!nk answered my questions directly.

Don’t get your hopes up because I didn’t receive a phone call or an e-mail. P!nk posted a blog on her MySpace page that explained the separation. She also asked her fans to support Hart. 

This exemplifies what a celebrity can do to get the message out to who’s important while keeping away the paparazzi. Anyone who is P!nk’s friend on MySpace and subscribed to her blogs will get a notice that she posted something.

I know I’m beating a dead horse, but celebrities need to take note: Feedback! Feedback! Feedback!

At the core of public relations is the feedback between entertainers and their fans. P!nk could have done interviews and media tours about her divorce but who would want to go through that? And for what reason? With the power of the MySpace blog at her fingertips, P!nk was able to get the story out as fast as possible without having to exploit any wounds by talking to the media.

Also, she was able to get hundreds of comments from her fans that wished her well.

P!nk and Carey Hart image courtesy of tvguide.com

P!nk image courtesy of pinkspage.com

Maxim Magazine Licking Its Wounds

One of my favorite bloggers, Perez Hilton, posted yesterday about Maxim magazine needing a Band-Aid to cover up this boo-boo.

In March’s issue, a review writer wrote a negative review for the Black Crowes’ new album “War Paint” without having heard it. To make things worse, band manager Pete Angelus said it was impossible for the review to be valid because advance copies of the album hadn’t been released yet. The magazine explained that the review was an “educated guess.”

In a review, the writer’s opinion matters to many people especially since consumers are being more picky about their CD purchases. An “educated guess” is not acceptable and the magazine should have waited until next month when the writer heard the album. Or at least make sure it was on the writer’s to-do list.

The band out-ed the magazine on its Web site stating the faux pas. If you’re not familiar with the band, don’t be ashamed. To jog your memory, the lead singer, Chris Robinson, is Kate Hudson’s ex.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t plagarism something we learn in the first few journalism classes?  

The magazine made a mistake, and they’re apologizing for it. James Kaminsky, Maxim ‘s editorial director, released a statement on Tuesday (as quoted from Yahoo! News): “It is Maxim’s editorial policy to assign star ratings only to those albums that have been heard in their entirety. Unfortunately, that policy was not followed in the March 2008 issue of our magazine and we apologize to our readers.”

In the world of entertainment, mistakes are commonplace. What the public remembers is what the response was. The best thing you can do is admit the fault and explain how you plan to fix it. Also, a tip is to make sure the mistake isn’t repeated. Even though many crises are monumental, the fall out can go pretty quickly if the organization doesn’t put up a fight, especially when it knows the fault lies on its door step.

Unfortunately for Maxim, some people, especially the band’s manager, aren’t accepting its apology as posted on StereoGum blog. I can understand why, in light of the fact that the apology was directed towards readers and not the band.

The blog pointed out another offense by Maxim magazine. They pulled the same stunt with Nas’ album “N****r.” Why can’t magazines use their power for good?

My advice is to make sure the reviewers pop in the CD before they start writing. People take reviews very seriously, so reviewers should step up to the plate.

War Paint image courtesy of mywearandtear.com

March issue of Maxim image courtesy of maxim.com