Valley PR Blog

Should Miley Cyrus fire her PR team?

By Dan Wool on April 29th, 2008 In Hype!

Don’t worry, Miley Cyrus, I get it. The ‘artistic’ shot didn’t seem that bad, so you let it go. You were covered up, so what’s the harm?

Heck, it might even be a boost to your image. Take it in a different direction. You’d have teenage boys (and by the way, dirty old men) froth at the mouth rather than see you as a squeaky clean Disney Channel pixie.

But guess what, you’re 15 years old. You’re an idol to 9 year old girls. And that’s the rub. And while you’ve had to grow up quickly, you don’t know everything.

That means, you need to have PR people around you who have your back. Yours most certainly did not in this situation. They didn’t understand the fundamental big picture implications of a photo like this. And they should be fired.

While your “people” were chatting it up on set and enjoying the catering spread, Annie Liebowitz, a highly experienced celebrity photographer who is known for some of the most beautiful, though controversial photos, lulled you into a compromising position.

Yes, it felt comfortable and natural, but that’s her job, to get you to open up. And she’s not to blame here. Nor, really are you.

Your people knew what they were getting into with Liebowitz. And they let it happen.

What they should have done when they saw this set-up is scream “Halt!” They should have dove in front of the camera. They should have hauled your ass out of there. Seriously, covered or not, given your age and image, you never should have had your top off in the first place. There is such a thing as too much trust.

But they weren’t paying attention — at any stage of this. Worse, they probably wanted it. They know the “under 18″ laws and the general public’s penchant to privately ogle sexual imagery but publicly cry Puritanical foul. They thought it would boost your career. But you’re not at the “shift gears to edgy diva stage” yet. Even Britney Spears wasn’t really there when she did it — and why model that career?

Because, even if your PR team — parents (Billy Ray — as a father you approve of this?!), personal publicist, Disney Channel PR reps, manager, agent — missed these Entertainment Publicist 101 moves, that they did not seem to negotiate photo approval with Vanity Fair shows a lack of experience. If they did have photo approval, it shows a lack of judgment. In the entertainment biz, you can stop the presses. They didn’t. They saw profit in trading on your relative innocence.

Your PR team’s indifference is your detriment. Dump the Britney-Lindsey “Beverly Hillbilly” PR mentality and get with Avril Lavigne and Christina Aguilera and others who have successfully traded on their talent and good nature to build positive images and create long-term careers.

Comments

Miley Cyrus needs to not worry about the employment of her PR team and should focus on hiring herself some parents.

I COMPLETELY agree! At 15 years old there should have been knowledgable responsible adults representing her best interest. Decisions like this are the onset of a downward sprialing career and personal image.

Gee Amanda, two days in a row now you’ve taken the words right out of my mouth! Ditto, Ditto, Ditto.

sanity makes a comeback:)

What kills me is that if this were the family down the street and the father had his 15 year old disrobe and shot some pics and were found out, he’d be a guest of Sheriff Joe’s (who, by the way, would get at least 30 seconds on every newscast for the next two days from it)

I must say Dan, you make some good points, but I disagree with you on the Christina Aguilera “good girl” image comment - ever seen a little video titled “Dirrty” - although she does have more class than Britney and Lohan…

The Miley Cyrus bit is nothing new… We’ve seen many teenage celebrities transition from their “good girl” image to “I’m becoming a woman” and, in many cases, it seems to work… Granted, none were as hardcore Disney as Cyrus, but I’ll be interested to see where her career goes from here… Can she make the transition to music I might actually listen to? Or is she too branded as a Disney tween and won’t be able to make it?

People who never even heard of her now know who she is. Is Disney going to fire her? No!

Big coup for the PR Team. They aren’t going to get fired, they’re going to get huge bonuses.

i agree totally with dan. for 11 years, i was SVP, Pr at MTV networks and had to put on different hates for MTV and Nick and VH1 etc. the fact is “no, she is not locked into being a Disney tween but she is STILL a tween and a role model.she will have pleanty of time to grow up. I am surprised Billy ray, who saw his own career spiral, gave the ok. while he knows fate is fleeting, he knows that image is everything and will often be hard to change. Now is not the time. reminds me of the lascivious brooke shields ads for calvin klein and her role.Jodi Foster played a young hooker in :taxi Driver” but that was an artistic endeavor. this is someone who considers britney and lindsay peers or even heroes and look what happened to them.annie liebovitz? even if Picasso were alive and painted her(ok..with cubes and geometric shapes!)someone should say No.

then again, I polluted young minds for more than a decade!

oops.so many typos.hate instead of “hats” and “fame” is fleeting, not “fate.” where is spell check when I need it?

Dan:

First, let me say you have not seen the Vanity Fair photos. There’s one with Daddy Ray that is totally incestuous. Second, didn’t they realize this is the same photog who photographed David Cassidy’s pubes when he was 17?

As the expert on all things Zack & Cody, realize Miley/Hannah made over $100-million (easily) last year. She has blown the budget of every pre-teen’s parents by buying Hannah crap. I predicted last year she would skank out. As Lord Acton said, “Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.”

Third, the Vanity Fair photos reveal something I’ve never figured out - why Hannah Montana is a rock star. She looks just like Michael Jackson in most of the photos!

Lastly, other than Raven, Disney only keeps programs on for 3 years. That’s what killed Hilary Duff‘s career. So Hannah has one more year. Instead of filming the last season, though, she’s in Tennessee filming a moving and letting Annie Liebovitz take racy photos.

If you want to know the best music PR person, check Bob Merlis. Knew him when I wrote for Billboard and he was head of Warner music PR. Yes, my PR practice has assisted many musicians and entertainment celebrities, but I’ve never run into Miley-gate.

I will toot my own horn and say I did have the first national review of David Bowie’s stage debut in “Elephant Man.” I have 3 to 5 Bowie stories from his time in New Mexico, which was extensive - filming “Man Who Fell to Earth” (and stage debut, not in NM). My first reporting gig was where he pawned the rings in “Man Who Fell to Earth.”

To be honest, she sort of looks like she could be in one of those new anti-meth billboards.

I think Dan is spot-on.

Two people would be proud of this picture: Annie Liebowitz, who called her photo beautiful, and Calvin Klein. It takes two small steps of foresight to know A) Liebowitz takes risque photos of adults for adults and B) “Hanna Montana” doesn’t need to become Demi Moore at 15 years old. So, yes, maybe firing her people would be an idea to consider…and definitely keep Miley away from Madonna a any public events!

[...] a reader on ValleyPRBlog, it’s a “Big coup for the PR Team. They aren’t going to get fired, they’re going to [...]

i think people r over exaggerating about the whole situation

Face it, everything’s driven by the bottom line. And, this was a smart money move for everyone involved (premeditated or not)…as witnessed by the PR generated in the last week for Ms. Cyrus, Disney, Annie Leibovitz, etc. Anyone familiar with Annie Leibovitz’s amazing portraits knows she is a visual poet when it comes to nurturing “provocative” photos. Provocative in the sense of creating a strong response, whether sexy or not. She has photographed some amazingly beautiful, fun, and artistic shots of celebrities without showing any of their skin. I say she (and others involved) should have put more creative thinking into this one, and kept their minds on protecting a 15 year old, rather than the sensationalism of a “classic” photo shoot with the purpose of driving the bottom line.

Ann. I agree…this was a classic case of driving the bottom line by exploiting a minor and I hope a true professional PR professional didn’t participate in the scam. I actually have always thought Annie Leibovitz was creepy for taking pictures of her partner, Susan Sontag, as she was dying from cancer. It was weird, exploitive and not ‘art.’

Billy Ray and Miley’s grandmom should be spanked for allowing the shoot by someone with Leibovitz’s reputation for making celebs take off all their clothes. I wonder how they felt during the preparation as Miley was coerced into taking off her shirt and wrapped in a bedsheet for a provocative picture.

But mothers and grandmothers unite!! Throw the bums out and don’t spend a dime for any Hannah Montana, Leibovitz, or Vanity Fair product that would perpetuate the loser lifestyles of those that exploit children.

Vogue Magazine pr clue: hire photog Anne Geddes and blow out the competition!

I just think that Miley is being influenced by all of the other celebs, and that they have finally gotten through to her. I think it would have happened anyway, and even though her dad says differently, she will act like normal teenage celebrities. The 9-year olds that look up to her will feel betrayed, and could possibly start ‘posing’ like that too. Could it be possible she was drunk? And why did she have the lipstick smeared all over her face? I wouldn’t think that was very appealing, I prefer to have lipstick on the lips. Also, thanks to this picture, I’m wondering if she started starving herself to keep her figure. I mean, skinny is alright but I don’t like to see bones on a girl like that.

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