You won’t believe how many major celebrity events are actually cooked up in a publicist’s office.
You won’t believe how many major celebrity events are actually cooked up in a publicist’s office.
“Celebrities are brands these days, so when celebrities date, it’s like a collaboration of two brands that may go on to be a full-on merger.”
“An interesting story keeps up a celebrity’s profile. It keeps celebrities in the public eye and keeps opportunities rolling in for them.”
The perils of Hiddleswift
The world looked on incredulously as pop superstar Taylor Swift and British actor Tom Hiddleston began a very public romance in 2016 – but not everyone was convinced, and some would even go as far as to argue this was one of worst PR stunts ever. From carefully contrived photos in non-paparazzi locations, to Tom’s (in)famous tank top with “I heart T.S.” written on it, some of the headlines these stunts generated were not of admiration, but of mockery. Many were not convinced it was a true romance – and Nick believes it was actually a PR stunt.
“From a PR point of view, it was a massive fail, which I don’t think they thought would happen,” says Nick. “At the beginning, they thought this would be a match made in heaven and a way for Tom to elevate himself into the Hollywood elite. It was a strategic decision to become well-known. Everybody said he was after the James Bond role and I think his people probably said ‘You need to get yourself a famous girlfriend’.” The “showmance”, as the celebrity press has called it, ended in a split. But while Taylor seems to have walked away relatively unscathed, you could argue the disintegration of the relationship had adverse consequences for Tom.
“A musician is known for the personality you see on stage, whereas an actor plays different parts all the time, and I think that was where they had a big mess-up, because what we saw was a guy being a bit of a buffoon. When it comes to casting directors, they want heartthrobs or great actors, and he came off as neither.”
When private becomes public
Though we’ve always been fascinated with celebrities – think of the screaming Beatles fans in the 1960s or the paparazzi hounding Princess Diana – the rise of social media and instant connectivity has destroyed the traditional press statement, and makes us feel like we have direct and immediate access to the rich and famous. According to Dr Deborah Jermyn, a professor of Film and Television at London’s University of Roehampton, when this intimate line of instant communication breaks down, the resulting scandal adds another intriguing layer of fascination. “Whereas historically, access to Hollywood stars was closely managed by the studios they worked for, today’s audiences feel they have an unfolding, real-time relationship with stars, who may be posting pictures at home with their kids on Instagram, and tweeting from a red carpet event on any one day.” And ironically enough, this shorter distance between stars and ourselves makes us want to know even more. We’re always hoping the final curtain will lift and show us the truth. That’s why when the footage of Solange and Jay-Z fighting in an elevator while Beyoncé looked on was leaked on TMZ, it became a huge cultural talking point. “[The incident] seemed to point to a momentary glitch in the management of celebrity publicity,” Dr Jermyn says.
“In such exchanges, guards appear to go down and the public feel they’ve caught a passing but significant insight into the stars’ authentic lives. But of course, this sensation is always fragmentary: we had film, but no sound. So what such moments give rise to, rather than satisfying our longing to know what stars are ‘really’ like, is even more curiosity.” However, according to Nick, even this incendiary moment could have been cleverly cooked up – a rumour backed up by Beyoncé and Solange’s father, who suggested that the incident was staged to sell tickets for the couple’s On the Run Tour. “You would hope the stories of stars you buy into wouldn’t be that contrived, but I always thought it was quite strange,” says Nick. “It was all quite contrived. I think Jay-Z and Beyoncé are extremely manipulative and clever when it comes to music and their brand... The flip side is no one really cared about Solange until the incident – it put her on the map.”
Manipulating for a purpose
Creating the right story and manipulating the press has never been so important to the celebrity machine. According to Gina, “an interesting story keeps up a celebrity’s profile. It keeps celebrities in the public eye and keeps opportunities rolling in for them,” she says. “It helps them to stay visible to those who may potentially offer them work and opportunities, and keeps the people they’re working with at ease because the celebrity is high profile and interesting to the money-spending public.” We’ll never know for sure whether the stories we think are real are staged, and whether the headlines that we’re convinced are choreographed are in fact genuine. In February, Tom Hiddleston revealed to GQ that the “I heart T.S.” tank top was part of a joke, which made many who thought it was all a PR stunt reconsider.
But what’s for sure is that the teams behind the world’s most famous faces will milk the attention for all it’s worth. Whether that’s giving Beyoncé the lyric “Becky with the good hair” or getting The Weeknd plenty of new Instagram followers, the best PR stunts are worth their weight in gold, attention and, of course, many more years of fame.
Images TPG, Splash/Click Photos, 123RF.com Text Deborah Cicurel.
