A look inside the crisis-PR firms that craft comeback narratives for disgraced stars like Jonathan Majors.
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That did not happen.
Months later, Majors was arrested for assaulting his then-girlfriend, Grace Jabbari, precipitating a swift public downfall.
He was sentenced to 52 weeks of domestic-violence counseling and put on probation.
Searchlight, which had acquiredMagazine Dreamsout of Sundance, dropped the movie.
Which means that Majors is back now, too.
The field of crisis management has exploded recently.
Some blame Harvey Weinstein for this; others pin it onRay DonovanandScandal.
Have you gone to therapy?
Do you need anger management?
Many were keen to emphasize that there are some moral lines they would not cross.
If I think the persons lying to me, then Im not interested in representing them, says Nierman.
Nearly all were convinced Majors had done the work necessary to be a viable rehabilitation project.
Hes owning it, Nierman says.
The next step is to craft a compelling narrative for the client.
You only get one real bite at the redemption apple, says Nierman.
Ideally, this narrative is grounded in the truth or at least, some version of the truth.
This process starts with long, difficult conversations.
My strategy is based on empathy, says Engelmayer.
I sit there and listen to somebody, and really understand and distill what theyre saying.
Then I have to go figure out the right narrative and how to present it to a broad audience.
Theyre using all the hot-button words, says Baird, approvingly.
Hes doing the internal work, hes re-evaluating the community that he has.
Getting Majors there likely required months of intense media training.
We put together a set of questions to do test runs on how he interviews, says Baird.
Is he moving his legs?
Is he scratching his head?
Does he move his eyes?
Does he not look directly at the person asking questions?
What would potentially make him look like hes not being truthful?
The experts do not believe this was pre-planned.
Says Nierman: To me, the risks of that backfiring are too great.)
Since 2015, there is a great need for cancellation content among the media.
Its a highly leveraged headline, says Ross Johnson, founder ofJohnson Public Relations.
Most media is not going to be friendly.
Still, much of a crisis experts job remains building relationships with the press.
Saying you find the friendliest writer is not as accurate as saying you find theappropriatewriter, he says.
Everything is give-and-take, Nierman says.
People who dont work in media would be surprised at the level of back-and-forth that happens.
The world of social media has opened up exciting new avenues for crisis communications.
And sometimes you pay an influencer, he adds.
Anywhere from $5,000 to $100,000.
Hes opening up the aperture of who he is as a person.
Rebecca Keegans a respected reporter, says Johnson.
She is not someone who is beholden to writing nice PR stories for stars.
She delved into the gray areas.
The pros are divided on the wisdom of the full-bore approach.
I dont like the big press push, says Deraney.
I wouldve spoken to one or two outlets, maybe like a broadcast and a print.
There shouldnt be this ginormous push.
Its like youre forcing an opinion on the public.
Baird disagrees with other experts concerns about potential overexposure.
Were these other experts white or Black?
The Black community in general, and how Black celebrities are perceived, is a lot different.
The Black community tends to forgive and forget a lot easier.
You have got to go to thesmaller blogsbecause that is where a lot of the Black community are watching.
Theyre re-immersing him back into the Black community.
Theyve brought him home, in a sense.
The crisis experts phrased it differently.
It totally killed their headline, said Johnson.
Theyre like,Hes just a shithead.
Its going to take a while before he bounces back from this.
None of them was ready to write Majors off completely.
He can keep working, says Johnson.
Now it was his lifeline.
If he can do $7,000 per theater, this whole thing could change very quickly.
