Charm, talent, millions of followers on social media, a manager and a good agent… These are just some of the requirements to make it as a successful celebrity in Hollywood. But now, there’s another vital job becoming increasingly in demand for the A-list: a ‘crisis’ publicist.

Different from your typical publicist – who will largely be looking for the best ways to promote a star, ‘crisis publicists’ are specifically on deck to deal with scandals. They tend to be more experienced, primed and ready to deal with any disasters – the kind of disasters which could, if not foreseen, or extinguished quickly, send careers – either permanently or temporarily – up in flames.

You only need review recent years of celebrity scandal to understand their growing popularity. Far from the days where a sordid love triangle or bitchy on-set behaviour shocked us, this year alone we’ve seen rapper Diddy accused of sex-trafficking (allegations he denies), Jay Z accused of rape (allegations he also denies) and Angelina Jolie levy domestic abuse allegations at Brad Pitt (allegations he, too, denies).

Cast your mind back slightly further and you’ll remember the horrendous public trial in the US that saw Johnny Depp and Amber Heard accuse each other of defamation around domestic abuse. The jury ruled in favour of Depp (who has always denied the allegations too), although Heard did succeed in her claim that she had been defamed via Depp’s lawyer Adam Waldman. And way back in 2022, Hollywood giant Harvey Weinstein was convicted of sexual abuse after countless women came forward to allege decades worth of misconduct (he was found guilty of three charges and sentenced to 16 years).

It’s not just about the most serious of scandals though, much of a crisis PRs job is to avert the day-to-day rumour mill that has spiralled out of control with social media.

Crisis publicist Mark Borkowski, says that not all stars who choose to employ one have real scandals to hide, they’re just anticipating that untrue rumours could fly on online.  ‘There are so many threats now because the media landscape is wild, millions of people who generate false rumours,’ he tells Grazia, ‘Whether it’s influencers on YouTube or TikTok, they can say things which may be legally problematic.’
Borkowski says crisis PR is the fastest growing field in public relations – adding that stars investing in crisis PRs is part ‘fear’ and part ‘being prepared for the worst’.  ‘If you’re an A Lister where you’re generating 50, 60 million for a movie, you don’t want something to get out of control that then plummets you into crisis.’

It’s a high-stress job then, but it comes with a juicy pay packet – when Disney advertised for a specialist who could ‘lead crisis communications response efforts’, it was salaried at £265k. Yes, you read that right. And while crisis PR isn’t always successful, it’s easy to see why celebs invest in it, as it can work.

A prime example of someone who appears to be largely unaffected by his personal life in the headlines is Brad Pitt. In 2017, he and Angelina Jolie split up – following reports of a fight on a plane where Pitt allegedly became physically abusive to Jolie and the children (allegations he denies). Later that year, he gave an interview to GQ Style, saying he had been going to therapy, struggled with drinking and that he would be putting his ‘family first’. In the media at least, the article went down largely well, and opinion pieces followed praising Pitt’s honesty and candour, with the BBC declaring Pitt had ‘fixed his image problem with one interview’.

Today, the 60-year-old is still one of Hollywood’s biggest stars, regularly fawned over on red carpets. That’s despite Jolie filing court documents that allege he has a ‘history of abuse’ that started long before the plane incident – again, he denies these claims.

Johnny Depp similarly benefited when he employed crisis PR manager Melissa Nathan amid the controversy over domestic abuse allegations. In fact, when It Ends With Us star and director Justin Baldoni was making headlines this summer due to a reported off-screen feud with the film’s lead actress Blake Lively, it later made the press that he had hired Nathan to deal with the PR mess too.

Of course, some stars still deal with crises the old-fashioned way: by typing out a Notes app statement, taking a screenshot, and sharing it to their millions of followers. This month, Jay-Z called a lawsuit which alleged that he drugged and raped a 13-year-old girl, along with Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, at a party in 2000 ‘blackmail’. He denied the claims, saying, ‘My wife and I will have to sit our children down, one of whom is at the age where her friends will surely see the press and ask questions about the nature of these claims, and explain the cruelty and greed of people.’

Writing in Forbes, Molly McPherson, a crisis PR communications expert, said Jay Z’s approach was a ‘calculated PR strategy’, one where he tried to make himself and his family look like the victim. A day later, and the couple put on a united front at the premiere of Mufasa, in support of their daughter Blue Ivy. Of course, whether this strategy will work largely depends on the outcome of the civil case.
When safety and reputation can be at risk, it makes sense that stars are insuring themselves in an increasingly online world. But as Mark Borkowski says, the best crisis PR is when the general public doesn’t see a scandal in there For You Page. “The best examples of crisis PR is simply this: when you don’t get to hear about the crisis.”