Piaras Kelly PR - Public Relations in Ireland

Look at me, don’t look at me!

Today marked an interesting shift for the future of celebrity PR and how the media go about reporting on their favourite goldfish bowl. Tom Cruise hired a new ‘PR guru’ and Kate Hudson sued five publications for publishing photos and articles that suggested that she was suffering from an eating disorder. Please note that Cruise didn’t replace his sister in light of his negative publicity of late, she decided to focus on his ‘charitable work’ instead.

Both examples are quite interesting because it marked a shift in the level of control that publicists hold over celebrities and the fine line the media run when reporting on their lives. Cruise’s previous publicist was notorious for the level of control she held over the star, but just contrast the public’s reaction to the star when he wooed red carpets last year to the last couple of months where he behaved erratically on the Oprah Winfrey show and questions were raised about his religious beliefs.

A-list stars are fighting back at intrusive media and not putting up with the garbage that’s printed about them, even if they correctly report on strange behaviour like Tom Cruise’s of late. At the same time this will have a knock on affect on how Z-listers are reported upon because what applies to Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes will end up applying to Jordan and Peter Andre, despite how they crave media attention.

If some sort of standards evolve then tabloid press could find themselves in a bit of a pickle because at this rate they are ‘creating’ new z-list stars in a bid to fill the pages. If Kate Hudson wins her legal action, then publications like Heat magazine will think twice before running lists like the ‘20 skinniest celebrities.’

How cares how thin or fat a celebrity is or what religion they follow. As long as they aren’t hurting anybody, then nobody should inflict them to an unfair level of scrutiny. However if they try to enforce their views upon others, then they should be open to criticism.

On a personal note, I am twenty five years of age and I found out yesterday that Kerry Katona (or whatever surname she goes with these days), a British C-list celebrity, is the same age. We’ve all made mistakes in life, and as young adults we like to go out and enjoy ourselves, perhaps a little too much at times. I can’t begin to comprehend what it feels like seeing pictures of yourself in a drunken haze from the night before splashed across all the tabloids. Is it any wonder that she has had to be treated for depression since stars that age are obviously too immature to cope with such pressure?

Celebrities are slowly coming to the conclusion that there is an insatiable demand for gossip about them. Try as they might to exploit it for their own rewards every time they release an album or for their latest movie launch, they’re walking on a double-edged sword. In my opinion agents, publicists and ‘PR gurus’ are going to try and enforce a greater level of control over celebrities and there will be a few tragic incidents in the years to come.

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