R&B singer Chris Brown, who was arrested last weekend on suspicion of attacking a woman widely believed to be his girlfriend, Rihanna, who is also a famous pop singer, has finally brought his silence on the domestic violence incident to a close and hired a public relations company that specializes in crisis management.
After more than a week of dozens of reports floundering the internet with details of Brown's alleged assault on Rihanna, Brown finally broke his silence by having his PR practitioner publish a five sentence news releases in which he also said many media and blog reports have been wrong.
In the news release, Brown said that "words cannot begin to express how sorry and saddened I am over what transpired...I am seeking the counseling of my pastor, my mother and other loved ones and I am committed, with God's help, to emerge as a better person."
The 19-year-old performer of such U.S. chart-toppers as "Run It!" and "Forever" has been in hiding since the alleged scuffle with his girlfriend in a rented Lamborghini, which was the wrong thing to do from a PR position. To most PR practitioners, being silent during a time of crisis is the last thing you want to do. Brown and his rep's remained silent for more than a week which allowed false rumors and stories to be published in blogs, websites, as well as on radio talk shows and TV shows. If Brown would have immediately come out and told his side of the story as well as sincerely apologized, the press and his fans would most likely be less harsh on him.
In effect to Brown's alleged domestic violence, sponorships such as Doublemint Gum have suspended their Ad commercial which features Brown singing about the gum product. Brown's reputation has been tarnished and as a PR practitioner, I believe if he would have not gone into hiding and would have honestly spoken out about the situation from the beginning, then he would have received less negative publicity.
From a good public relations stand point, Chris Brown should have put out a press release within 24 hours of the incident, which would have killed all rumors and speculations.
Brown has officially been charged with one count of criminal threats and is expected to attend court on March 5th in Los Angeles. The pop singer has also hired popular defense attorney, Mark Geragos to represent him in the case. For future reference, Brown and his PR staff should continue communication to Brown's public in an effort to help restore his reputation.
QUESTION TO THE PUBLIC: Do you think Chris Brown's publicist handled Brown's domestic violence incident in the best manner? Why or why not? Explain
I'm not really sure if he or she handled it properly. There are issues that we don't know. For instance, his publicist could have advised him to speak out early, but he could've turned down the advisement. But they should have said something within 24 hrs. because a crisis such as this can ruin his whole career. I'm not saying he'll never be able to reach higher heights in the industry, but the media will look for negative situations to come from his end.
ReplyDelete-Marlon