Episodes
Sept. 3, 2025
What Was Said at the Mic: Press Conference Analysis After the Annunciation Catholic School Shooting
A shooting inside a Minneapolis church during a back-to-school gathering left two children dead and several others injured. The Annunciation Catholic School community was shattered. The country watched. And almost immediately...
Aug. 27, 2025
The First Mistake That Will Sink You in a Crisis
The Breakdown: The first move most people make in a crisis is often the one that causes the most damage. It happens when emotion outruns strategy, and the brain mistakes public pressure for personal danger. The result is impulsive action, usually in the form of a rushed post, a scrambled statement,…
Aug. 20, 2025
Beyond the Easter Eggs: What Taylor Swift Really Did on New Heights
Taylor Swift didn’t just pop onto her boyfriend’s New Heights podcast for fun. She executed a masterclass in brand strategy. With over 16 million views and endless headlines, her first-ever appearance alongside Travis and Jas...
Aug. 13, 2025
South Park's Savage Trump Administration Takedown
This week’s PR Breakdown isn’t about a corporate crisis or a press release gone wrong. It’s about satire — and the way it forces a reaction. In the latest season of South Park , Matt Stone and Trey Parker have turned their ai...
Aug. 6, 2025
The Strategic Timing of Justin Timberlake's Lyme Disease Revelation
Justin Timberlake ended his tour and dropped a bombshell on Instagram—he’s been battling Lyme disease. The post was emotional, reflective, and full of gratitude. But was it also a PR move? In this episode of The PR Breakdown ...
July 30, 2025
Why Gwyneth’s Viral Ad Won’t Save Astronomer
After NPR called me to weigh in on the Coldplay concert scandal and Astronomer’s new viral ad starring Gwyneth Paltrow, a listener to the time to email to call me a “fussbucket.” You know what? I’ll take it. Because here’s th...
July 23, 2025
The Coldplay Concert Scandal That Took Down a CEO
Seventy thousand five hundred twenty-one. That’s how many news stories included Andy Byron’s name after one juicy Jumbotron moment at a Coldplay concert. In this episode of The PR Breakdown , dissecting how a viral moment spi...
July 16, 2025
Flood Warning Failures: The Texas Tragedy
When the flood came, the warnings didn’t. In this episode, a deadly cascade of communication breakdowns and the consequences of delay. At least 129 people are dead, with dozens still missing, after historic flash flooding swe...
July 9, 2025
The PR Trap of July: Scandals, Silence, and the Setup for September
July appears quiet. It isn’t. This episode outlines why summer is a high-risk period for reputation management. With newsroom staffing reduced and audience attention low, deeper stories start brewing. Reporters have more time. Leadership is often distracted. That’s when reputational cracks start to…
July 2, 2025
When Journalists Become the Story: Who Really Controls the Narrative?
In this live edition of The PR Breakdown, Molly McPherson is joined by Warren Weeks and John Perenak, the hosts of the Reputation Town podcast, to explore the widening gap between journalism and public trust. The conversation...
June 25, 2025
The Tyler Perry Allegations: Why 'Scam' Claims Make Everything Worse
Tyler Perry is facing a $260 million sexual harassment lawsuit from actor Derek Dixon—and his legal team wasted no time calling it a “scam” and “shakedown.” That move may work in court. It won’t hold up in the court of public...
June 18, 2025
PR Wars: Trump vs. No Kings
Want More Behind the Breakdown? Follow The PR Breakdown with Molly McPherson on Substack for early access to podcast episodes, exclusive member chats, weekly lives, and monthly workshops that go deeper than the mic. It's the ...
June 11, 2025
Defamation as a Crisis Strategy: What the Blake Lively–Justin Baldoni Case Reveals
A $400 million defamation lawsuit, a full dismissal from a federal judge, and reputations still in question. This week, we’re breaking down the legal loss—and PR fallout—of It Ends With Us director Justin Baldoni’s case again...
June 4, 2025
Betrayals, Backpedals, and Broadcast Blowups: This Week in Reputation Damage
This week delivered a crash course in reputational damage. From a celebrity divorce to a DOGE(Y) dodge, and newsroom blowback, this episode highlights five real-time PR failures that exposed deeper internal fractures. Mention...
May 28, 2025
Original Sin: The Five Communication Sins That Created the Biden Coverup
Jake Tapper’s new book Original Sin is making headlines—but not just for what’s in it. The backlash, the omissions, the PR fallout—it’s all part of a larger failure in messaging that started long before the first leak. In thi...
May 21, 2025
The Reputation Cliff: Why Some Celebrities Never Recover: Featuring the Sean Combs Trial and My NBC News Interview
This episode examines the sharp edge of celebrity scandal and why some reputations teeter over the cliff while others, against the odds, manage a comeback. With Sean Combs (Diddy) serving as the case study, this episode revea...
May 14, 2025
What No One Tells New Grads About Crisis Communication (And Life)
Last week, my daughter graduated from Loyola University Chicago. After years of watching her build a life—on the field, on the sidelines, in the center of the action—she’s stepping into the real world. And like so many gradua...
May 7, 2025
Bill Belichick’s Girlfriend Has Main Character Energy and It’s Breaking His Brand
Bill Belichick has always been a master of control—on the field, in the press, and with his own narrative. But this episode examines how that carefully crafted reputation is unraveling, not because of a fumbled statement, but due to the outsize influence of his much-younger girlfriend, Jordan Hudso…
April 30, 2025
When Silence Backfires: Belichick, Blake & the Draft Day Meltdown
A football legend avoids the one question everyone’s asking. A Hollywood power couple frames advocacy through a lens that feels just a little too curated. And a trusted draft analyst unravels on-air when his favorite prospect...
April 22, 2025
How Harvard Said No—and Made It Stick
This episode examines Harvard University’s April 2025 letter rejecting sweeping demands from the Trump administration—an act of resistance that was principled, measured, and strategically precise. The statement didn’t chase h...
April 16, 2025
Houston, We Have a PR Problem (And the Delicate Art of Proving You're Right)
A rocket full of high-profile women launched into space, but the real spectacle might’ve been the PR machine that sent it there. From Katy Perry floating with daisies to Oprah crying on the ground, every moment of Blue Origin...
April 9, 2025
Behind the Music: Unraveling 'The White Lotus' Composer's Dramatic Exit
In this episode the spotlight is on the unexpected exit of Cristobal Tapia de Vere, the brilliant mind behind the haunting score from the hit HBO series, The White Lotus. This episode examines the emotional and professional t...
April 2, 2025
Inside the Messaging Meltdown of the Signal Chat: From Denial to Damage Control
The SignalGate fallout isn’t just about an accidental group chat. It’s about the unraveling that happens when powerful people panic, deny, and deflect—all while trying to hold onto credibility in real time. This episode unpac...
March 26, 2025
Strategically Vulnerable? Inside Meghan Markle’s Latest PR Move
This episode explores the calculated timing and emotional storytelling behind Meghan Markle’s latest media rollout. With a new Netflix series and curated social media posts emerging alongside headlines about Prince Harry’s vi...