Valley PR Blog

Tell Your Client – Here’s an Apology Worth Watching

By Linda VandeVrede on March 19th, 2009 In Advice, Best Practices

CNN this afternoon previewed the first interview with Eliot Spitzer since his sex scandal.   CNN Reporter Fareed Zakaria asked Eliot for his opinion on the AIG scandal, and then posed the question on everyone’s mind – how can we trust or value Eliot’s input on anything now, given his own bad behavior?

I wondered how Eliot would handle it, and he was more apologetic than I would have anticipated.    He admitted it had been a tough year, and that he had a wonderful, forgiving wife and had spent the time rebuilding his life.   (There always seems to be a wonderful wife standing up for her man in the background). He admitted to being human.  He could have been a little more forthcoming, but in comparison to the non-apologies we’re used to seeing on TV (think of A-Rod), it was refreshing.

The full interview will air this Sunday at 10:00 a.m PST on CNN.   It’s worth telling your clients to check it out for 2 reasons:  an example of how an apology can be handled somewhat gracefully (not perfectly, but I give him at least a B to B+), and an example of a situation you should try never to be in, in the first place - having to apologize for unethical behavior.

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