How famous men toppled by #MeToo plot their comeback

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/may/27/metoo-sexual-assault-claims-accused-men-plot-redemption-charlie-rose-mario-batali

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America’s entertainment industry has been left reeling from the #MeToo movement. But that hasn’t stopped many of the high-profile men it has toppled from planning their comebacks.

Talkshow host Charlie Rose was fired by CBS and PBS in November after he was accused of groping colleagues and walking around naked in front of them, allegations he denies. Last month, Page Six reported that Tina Brown was approached to produce a new atonement TV series in which Rose interviews other accused men like him.

Celebrity chef Mario Batali took a leave of absence after he was accused by multiple women of inappropriate and abusive behaviour. After apologising, he has been “eyeing a second act”, according to the New York Times. Friends and associates say he is “pondering timelines” as to how he might step back into his career just months after it imploded, including by “creating a new company led by a powerful woman chief executive”.

Former Today Show co-host Matt Lauer, comedian Louis CK, and former public radio host Garrison Keillor are also all reported to be looking for redemption. Keillor’s attorney told the Minneapolis Star-Tribune: “The mission is to get his train back on track.”

For the accused, there are people who can help them to rehabilitate their reputations – for a price.

There are more than 230,000 public relations professionals in the United States, according to government figures, and business is booming for those who specialize in crisis management. “I’ve gotten more calls in the last month than I did in all of last year,” one PR guru told an industry publication in November, as the #MeToo allegations against former movie producer Harvey Weinstein and other high-profile men emerged last year.

When famous people get in trouble, their first call is often to a spin doctor. These experts can advise them on how best to respond, work to protect their image and, eventually, help them plot a course towards recovery.

“I don’t think we’ve ever had anything quite like this,” said Andrew Blum, the founder of AJB Communications, a PR firm specialising in crisis management.

“Yes, women will have a say about whether these men will come back and what they can do, there’s no question,” Blum said. “But eventually some of these men may have something to add to society, and maybe PR has to help them.”

However, the likelihood of rehabilitating a reputation depends on the severity of the alleged offence, and whether there is a pattern to accusations.

“In some cases, the advice would be: ‘you need a reality check’ – there’s not going to be a comeback,” said Evan Nierman, founder of crisis PR firm Red Banyan, adding that he would advise some prospective clients to just go and enjoy their wealth on a beach somewhere.

“I don’t think there’s going to be a comeback for Harvey Weinstein,” he added.

In New York on Friday, Weinstein was charged with rape, a criminal sex act, sex abuse and sexual misconduct for alleged incidents involving two separate women. His lawyer said he would plead not guilty. Comedian Bill Cosby, who was convicted of sexual assault last month, turns 81 in July and is facing the prospect of spending the rest of his life in prison.

But there are many other disgraced men whose behavior falls somewhere in the vast gray area between unacceptable and criminal. Their fates won’t be decided by a court of law, but in the court of public opinion.

One of Weinstein’s lawyers says she believes that forum is in many ways the tougher one.

Blair Berk, a Los Angeles-based “super lawyer” who is currently representing Weinstein, says it can be especially difficult in an environment where accusations get blasted out on social media before almost any objective investigation, and where declarations of innocence only make things worse. “Due process isn’t terribly popular at the moment,” she said.

Berk would know. She represented Johnny Depp, helping him to settle divorce proceedings and an alleged domestic violence case with his former wife, Amber Heard, in 2016, before the #MeToo movement began.

Berk also advised Mel Gibson, who became persona non grata in Hollywood after a sexist and antisemitic tirade in 2006, but represents arguably the best-case scenario for disgraced stars to aspire to, according to industry insiders.

Ten years after the initial incident, he gave remorseful interviews, directed a successful film, Hacksaw Ridge, and was allowed back into elite Hollywood circles, even getting nominated for an Oscar.

“What you’re looking for is some period of redemption to get your act together,” said Patty Glaser, another of Weinstein’s star attorneys.

“The old saying is that time heals all wounds, but a good apology and some genuine behavior change can heal it a lot faster,” said Adam Dooley, a Canadian PR agency owner who has written on the topic.

The accused have to show real contrition and take responsibility for bad behaviour before they can even think about re-entry into the public’s good graces, Dooley added.

However, while he’s back to making movies, Gibson has never reclaimed the superstar status of his previous life, nor has he been able to shake the memory of his downfall from public consciousness. Gibson’s sin is also very different from the accusations faced by Weinstein and others. And in the era of #MeToo, the comeback playbooks are being rewritten.

“People are out there throwing out PR trial balloons and these PR trial balloons don’t seem to be working,” Blum said.

That seems especially true for Rose’s reported plan to attempt to use his platform to rehabilitate himself, and other accused men, en masse.

“I thought it was the dumbest PR idea I’ve ever seen,” said Blum.

Critics, including the feminist writer Jill Filipovic, think these men have no business plotting comebacks at all.

“Instead of strategizing their returns, these famous men should think about what it truly means to make amends,” Filipovic, a Guardian contributor, wrote recently in Time.

“If someone has paid penance for their wrongdoing, they do not deserve to have their lives ruined forever. But losing one’s celebrity is not ruination, nor is it penitence. By suggesting that it is, too many of the men of #MeToo show that they haven’t changed much at all.”

This article was amended on 26 July 2018 to clarify that Tina Brown was pitched a show that would star Charlie Rose, and that Rose himself was not the person pitching the show.