Tag Archives: Charlie Sheen

Can Charlie Get Back His Sheen?

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Charlie is Still Driving His Messaging, But Now in a Good Way Credit: Ian White

Can you “win” too much?

In the case of Charlie Sheen, he’s gulping a tall glass of mea culpa and eating humble pie right now for he’s done just that – except his winning wasn’t that, it was the opposite…losing. And now after not being able to handle being fired from a $1.2 million dollar a week paycheck on CBS’ “Two and a Half Men,” he is trying to mop up after himself and doing a PR about-face.

Do you think Charlie will be able to rebound after his unstable recent past?

I know I don’t need to explain Charlie Sheen’s predicament and what led him to start his own crisis management. You all are too well aware of his podcasts, tweets, live shows and contentious battles with his former employers, Warner Bros. TV.

However, all of a sudden Sheen has apparently seen the light. I don’t know where and when the light bulb went off and he started realizing that he was a tornado that was destroying everything and everyone in his path. But, I’m glad he did and I’m happy that he’s trying to make amends wherever and whenever possible.

As a PR practitioner, Charlie Sheen has been an amazing case study to follow. From being a train wreck taking his own PR into his own hands last March, to now, publicly pleading for forgiveness, we all can learn from his mistakes. Sheen is on the Good Ship Lollipop PR train doing whatever he can to be self-deprecating about his past and trying to move forward so he can be perceived as a stable employee, father, son and well, human being. But is that enough?

From firing his longtime publicist early last year, he’s now employed one once again.  And although, he was allowed to be a presenter at the Emmys for ratings, you have admit that it was smart strategy to use that platform to publicly apologize and try to save your face. Can you think of another venue that would allow you to be in front of over 12 million viewers in one swoop?

PR WHIRLWIND

The PR profession is alive and well and in full operation with the triad surrounding Sheen. Not only is Sheen trying to stay in the message, publicists for “Two and a Half Men” are trying to keep their message in the trend whirlwind as well. For no matter how you slice it, when Sheen speaks, the media and public listen. When someone from “Two and A Half Men” speaks…they have to speak loader to get noticed if Sheen is not recognized. He is a news magnet.

With that, have you noticed Ashton Kutcher making the rounds to talk shows? Did you see Jon Cryer get a star on the Walk of Fame? CBS’ PR team is on high alert to succeed this year without Sheen.

Who will get the last laugh? Well, if you tuned into Comedy Central’s Roast of Charlie Sheen Monday night  (another perfectly timed appearance), Charlie would tell you he’s already won.

And who could argue that! He’s now allegedly getting a $25 million settlement and doesn’t have a financial worry in the world. However, with this new Charlie we are seeing, he has a conscious and an awareness that his behavior was in poor judgement. I just hope he starts the healing process toward finding that peace that passes all understanding.

Time does heal all wounds…and the viewing public will come around once he consistently proves that he on the stable train to wellness. That’s the best PR he can buy.

Don’t take my word for it. Here’s Charlie’s view from his recent roast.

Roast of Charlie Sheen Mon, Sept 19 10/9c
Charlie Sheen – Charlie on Mars
www.comedycentral.com
Comedy Central Funny TV Shows Roast of Charlie Sheen

 

 

What PR Sheen is Charlie Sending?

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Keeping Your Lives Balanced is the Best PR You Can Buy

Stan Rosenfield is actor Charlie Sheen’s publicist. He is doing an amazing job managing that actor’s reputation and definitely earns every penny he makes on the account.  He and Sheen’s stable of managers have deftly handled numerous personal antics including wild parties, court cases, lost cars, hospitalization, work shut downs, salary differences, etc. etc. etc. This Sheen team has done so well that despite all — this celebrity’s “star” still shines.  (Note: I highly recommend PR practitioners follow Rosenfield work as a case study of a job well done.)

PUBLICISTS NEVER HAVE FULL CONTROL

But, here’s my note to Publicists – no matter how well you do your job publicizing a client, at the end of the day – we are still dealing with humans who have free will.

Here’s my case in point — Sheen’s surprise phone call last Monday to syndicated radio program”The Dan Patrick Show.” I felt for Rosenfield when I read about this situation. This publicist has been “caring” for Charlie’s brand 24/7 and has a strategy in place that will work beautifully if Charlie Sheen obeys and follows the program. However, when Charlie took it upon himself to call a media outlet and freely talk about his current plight, Rosenfield’s strategy came tumbling down into crisis management mode. By Sheen calling the radio program on his own, he undid everything Rosenfield had in place to protect Sheen’s brand whether or not he ever needs to defend himself in court or at work.  By Sheen doing this, he left his brand flailing in the wind.

Luckily, Dan Patrick of “The Dan Patrick Show” is a pro and he handled the interview well and understood what was going on.  We, viewers and humans, realize that something is going on with Mr. Sheen and that his antics point to something within.  That’s all I’m going to say about Sheen.

THERE’S ONLY SO MUCH PUBLICISTS CAN DO

This thought lead me to this...in some instances I believe publicists “protect” clients too much. Yes, we are hired to help during crises and we are told to clean up sloppy personal messes.  There are many things we can do to make bad situations forgotten. However, we need to ask ourselves whether or not we are hurting them more by not letting them be accountable for their actions. At the end of the day, we are responsible for our actions unless we are younger than 18 years of age.  I was reminded of this when I read Billy Ray Cyrus saying that by having his daughter on TV at an early age that was the downfall of the entire family.  Really?  Yes, by being in the public eye, there are enormous pressures…but with good decisions, good management and leadership…scales that are off balance can be closer to being balanced.

Charlie Sheen needs to get his scales balanced and he’s not alone. We all have the same responsibilities no matter our circumstances or job or role in life.  There’s only so much a publicist can do.

Do you over-protect others?

It’s A Great Time For Publicists

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Nothing to Celebrate Now

Pals Again

A Mugshot of a Man in Need of a Publicist

It’s a great time to be a publicist for the harvest field has recently become full with so many influential people and institutions finding themselves caught in potential reputation tarnishing situations.  Just take a look at our current workload.

  • Mark McGwire
  • Charlie Sheen
  • USC
  • Harry Reid
  • NBC

Need I say more. Publicists are needed in each of the above situations and lives like never before.

In addition to being a benefit during crises, publicists as a whole have much to gain from high-profile situations for it is at these character building times that our craft is treated with the respect it deserves. And, if the publicists that are charged with the above situations do it right, then they will not only bring goodwill to our profession, but also help save the lives of individuals who have been lead astray by either greed, power or a personal demon.

HONESTY IS THE BEST POLICY

As a publicist my first counsel is to come clean. I tell my clients if something has been done wrong and especially if it is on the verge of being found out that they need to confess.  That’s why I’m glad Mark McGwire had the saddest day of his life today and admitted to steroid use.  He no longer has to dance around this issue and keep the lie going.

Why did he come out with it now? Who knows, but I think it was because he couldn’t stand the guilt one more day.  As we all know, secrets hurt more keeping them in than in their exposure.  Yes, his reputation has been damaged, but Mr. McGwire can now rest his head on his pillow tonight with a clear conscience for the first time since perhaps 1993.  That’s a long time to keep a lie alive.

Is he in the clear now? No, I believe this is just the start of his healing. He now needs to apologize to his fans and face the music.  He will face some punishment, whether that be never being voted in the the MLB Hall of Fame or having an asterisk by his stats.  He is accountable for his actions and must face the consequences.

And my advice goes for the rest of them too.

Charlie Sheen needs to admit to his anger problems and get treatment. His actions need to match his words. He also needs to financially support battered womens abuse shelters and speak to men about this issue as part of his healing.

Pete Carroll is the smartest man at USC by getting out of the NCAA-violation laden athletic program.  The you-know-what-kind-of-storm is going to hit there and you haven’t seen anything yet.  The flood gates are just opening and the best thing USC can do is silence Mike Garrett, USC’s Athletic Director.  Now is the time for silence from the administration or its time to confess if there have been problems.

Harry Reid’s situation should be over in a few days regarding his racist remarks toward President Obama. He smartly issued an apology before the storm hit him and the President accepted his apology. Case closed. Well done.

And NBC-They have a huge mess on their hands.  They have pissed off their two best talents.  Jay and Conan are having a field day ridiculing the company on air that gives them their pay checks.  With GE soon selling the shop to Comcast, it could be that this lame duck administration is throwing up its hands to these boys who are behaving badly.  They might not care.  But as viewers, we love it. It makes great TV. And well, I think they will continue this outward protest for some time to come…even after the Winter Olympics.

So if you are looking for a job, you might want to think about being a publicist – that is if you like to clean up other people’s messes and don’t mind being expendable until a major poop storm hits.  When the talent is knee deep in you know what- that’s our time to shine. And right now there are a lot of people who desperately need us.  Tiger, do you still need some help?

What’s your spin on this post?

Not in deep water yet,

Cindy