Dec. 23, 2025

The Top PR Wins and Fails of 2025: Part Two

The Top PR Wins and Fails of 2025: Part Two

This is the main event of Molly's Top PR Wins and Fails of 2025 series, recorded live on Substack (aired Friday, December 19) and built around the stories that truly owned the year: culture-war outrage that turned into real market impact, celebrity reputations getting torched (sometimes by their own silence), late-night becoming a political battleground, and the kind of persona erosion that turns “brand equity” into “lawsuit energy.” If you listened to Part Two (ranks 10 through 6), this...

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Apple Podcasts podcast player icon Spotify podcast player icon Youtube Music podcast player icon RSS Feed podcast player icon YouTube podcast player icon

This is the main event of Molly's Top PR Wins and Fails of 2025 series, recorded live on Substack (aired Friday, December 19) and built around the stories that truly owned the year: culture-war outrage that turned into real market impact, celebrity reputations getting torched (sometimes by their own silence), late-night becoming a political battleground, and the kind of persona erosion that turns “brand equity” into “lawsuit energy.” If you listened to Part Two (ranks 10 through 6), this episode is the payoff: sharper, bigger, and way messier in the best possible way.

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00:00 - Setting The Stakes For 2025 PR

00:46 - American Eagle’s Viral Culture-War Rocket

03:56 - Royal Reputations Sliding In Public

08:41 - Kimmel, Corporate Pressure, And Pushback

12:31 - Sydney Sweeney’s Collateral Damage

16:20 - The Fast Rise And Risk Of Erica Kirk

23:48 - The Astronomer Jumbotron Fiasco

35:04 - Why Blaming The Public Backfires

42:08 - Swift’s Precision Reputation Management

WEBVTT

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Hey there, welcome to the PR Breakdown.

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In this episode, we're getting into the top five PR winners and losers of 2025.

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I'm judging these by press reverberation, who picked the story up, how long it stayed in the news cycle, and the social chatter that kept it alive.

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Last week's episode, picks 10 through 6.

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You can listen to them right now.

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This episode is the main event.

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It is a recording from a live on Substack that aired Friday, December 19th.

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All right, let's get to it.

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Here we go.

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Number five winner, American Eagle.

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So the crisis type culture, war, outrage that function like a stock market rocket ship.

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The American Eagle Sydney Sweeney has great genes campaign.

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Many of you heard about this because, of course, it popped up on social media first.

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So what many people heard, the pun on jeans, great jeans, J-E-A-N-S, G-E-N-E-S, the wordplay combined with Sydney Sweeney's look, blonde-haired, blue-eyed woman.

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So triggered these accusations of claims that kind of flirted with eugenetics and also white supremacist aesthetics.

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Some people felt it was a little too sexually charged.

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It was a callback, throwback to Brooke Shields Kelvin Klein campaign.

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But then I was looking back even on the whole, I was reacquainting myself with Brooke Shields Kelvin Klein campaign.

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Holy moly, holy problematic.

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Wow.

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And we just accepted it.

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Like this was normal.

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Okay.

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So there was a lot of backlash.

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So it's really interesting to say that someone's a winner, considering all the backlash that was there.

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So right wing media, politicians, White House sees the backlash as this woke overreaction.

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The fact that Donald Trump and his communications director were talking about it, other mega aligned voices are talking about it.

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And they're all praising Sweeney and calling the spot like the hottest ad.

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It turned the ad into another culture war flashpoint, similar to Budweiser.

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That happened.

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It all mushes together in my COVID brain.

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Was that 23, 24 when Budweiser?

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It feels like 23.

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I think it was 24 when that happened.

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But that Bud White, it kind of plotted through it.

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But instead, American Eagle soared with it, which is the reason why I have it as a winner, because American Eagle's stock spike up to 25% in a day.

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Okay.

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That is a huge surge.

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Okay.

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And also more than 30% at one point, pre-market trading as the ads went viral.

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So a massive win for American Eagle.

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And the takeaway here is outrage can be a marketing tool, even when it makes your celebrity endorser collateral damage.

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And now American Eagle is just moving on.

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So they became a culture moment campaign.

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All right, next for losers.

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I have to add this in here because last week I missed it and I got my numbers off, which it's really bad form, but also not surprising considering everything that I'm drinking at the same time.

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But I should have added in here as losers, and please no hate.

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I never want hate because every time I talk about this person online and I don't like talking about them online for this very reason.

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But since we're compiling this list and sharing it, we have to, we can't hide from it.

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Meghan Markle Prince Harry.

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And the reason why I'm putting this in there for a crisis type, they have a long-term credibility erosion.

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They also suffer from identity confusion.

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I'm not putting them on the loser list because I'm hating on them at all.

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I really want to look at them as rationally, with academically, if you will, even without bias.

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I'm just looking at them with the numbers.

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So I pulled some in the UK.

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Roughly 27% reported positive opinions of Harry and only 20% of Megan.

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These are their lowest numbers since tracking began on the couple.

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So because they sit on the lower end, the problem end, and they're only slightly above Prince Andrew, that shows for a couple, they're having another bad year, no matter how much they try.

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And in the US, where I think it matters a lot to them in terms of a capital point of view, the numbers, you gov, Harry's popularity in the U.S.

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dropped 14 points in 2025, from roughly 50% positive to 38%, which is his lowest since 2020.

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That signals a failure.

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Megan's numbers in the U.S.

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dipped sharply in the first half of 2025 and recovered somewhat.

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You know, I think in these last few weeks, I mean, she does have her company as ever.

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She's posting more photos with her kids, shielding their faces.

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They're doing quite a very, very good job doing that.

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And I got to give them aesthetic points.

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Instead of plopping the emojis on the kid's face, which is so jarring on a post, they are using, they're capturing images where it's just silhouettes and they're off to the side.

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I think what the numbers represent is that people who buy from her are the people who love her.

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And that's what she is.

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Like just in your words, she's polarizing.

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For every person who hates her or hates on her, there's people who love her.

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So her products sell out.

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Manny, her wine sold out.

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Yes, as ever products sell out.

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It's the reason why I'm putting them on this list, is because they have not found their footing.

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And that's why almost every move that they make is charged because they don't have footing.

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So then let me drop into another loser for number five to catch us up, is Prince Andrew.

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So we're just kind of staying in the house, if you will.

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Prince Andrew, so his crisis type, that is toxic legacy scandal with even more detail and institutional distancing.

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So he was accused, you guys could write this story by Virginia Guffrey of sexually abusing her in 2001 when she was 17.

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Of course, it's not her personal memoir, it's a biography about her that came out posthumous and more stories coming to light.

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Of course, traffic by Jeffrey Epstein and Ghlaine Maxwell, his 2019 BBC Newsnight interview, which I watched again, correction, Chris, formerly known as Prince Andrew.

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I stand corrected on that.

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Thank you.

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Andrew Mountbatten, Windsor.

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Thank you.

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But that newsnight interview, which then became a series on scandal, which I had to watch again.

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It's fascinating.

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It effectively ended his strength with the White House when he's defending his friendship with Epstein, knowing what he did and the implausible details that he shared in those interviews.

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So it was widely seen as disastrous.

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We all know that.

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But since then, his frontline royal career has been stepping back, stepping back, stepping back.

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He's been absence from a lot of family events.

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And now we're seeing a lot of the video footage of him.

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Everybody is capturing, press is capturing how distant he is.

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It's always, oh, and off goes Andrew doing this and off.

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So collateral damage would be Fergie, his former wife, as well.

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So the two of them are struggling.

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King Charles issued a statement.

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Back in May, Prince Andrew issued a statement, again, denying that he did anything wrong, trying to clear the air.

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But King Charles releases a statement out of Buckingham Palace, essentially condemning it, taking away his title.

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And now he is no longer really effectively a part of the royal family.

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Huge reputational informs their father.

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So it just shows reputational damage, what one person's deflection can do to a reputation.

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All right, number four.

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So this is a name, but I could put it under a title as well.

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So there's some adjacency here.

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So the number four in my winner for 2025, Jimmy Kimmel, and adjacent Stephen Colbert, who will no longer be on the air with CBS next year.

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So the crisis type for him is straight up political targeting, corporate caution, ABC News, and humanized increase.

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So Jimmy Kimmel, his reputation bruised, not battered, not broken, I should say.

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So when Trump went after Jimmy Kimmel, ABC, Walt Disney Company capitulated, like a lot of the media businesses out there, corporate, gave in to the White House, gave in to Trump, and the backlash was extreme.

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Bob Iger felt it.

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I mean, this is a leader who was with the company, brought it to incredible heights, left the company, came back to the company, and he's had nothing but problems ever since, like this.

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Brendan Carr, the FCC chair, he gets involved, says we can do this, you know, the easy way or the hard way, because of comments that Jimmy Kimmel made regarding the death of Charlie Kirk.

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And Jimmy Kimmel, as we've seen now in reports, since a lot of people don't watch his show live, but a lot of people do watch him online.

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Same thing with other late night hosts, the morning after.

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So the social media YouTube numbers are really high.

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And that does bring in revenue.

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Jimmy Kimmel expressed grief and that remorse that everyone feels when they see what tragedy happened on the air.

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And so Jimmy Kimmel was weaponized.

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That's what happened.

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They canceled Jimmy Kimmel.

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But this is a case where we, the people, they made a stand and said, no, no, we are not standing for this.

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And what I loved about this event and remind me, can someone remind me when I come back to the loser list that I was here about the people and attacking the public in a crisis?

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Will someone just chime in with me, just table it, help me stick a pen in it and to add all my cliches?

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This was a case where the public mobilized together to say, this is ridiculous.

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And they started to cancel Disney, Disney Channel, Hulu.

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Over 60 actors came out on a list of names.

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You know what?

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I didn't even check, but I bet Rob Reiner was on this list, and came out in defense of Jimmy Kimmel and just the abhorrent nature of what was happening right now to the industry, that he was being pulled off the air.

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The following Monday, Jimmy Kimmel was back on the air.

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At the same time, the announcement is when Donald Trump went on the air, classic deflection, RFK Jr., who was on my list last week, Dr.

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Oz, to say that acetamideophins cause autism.

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Classic deflection.

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Jimmy Kimmel bust through it, ratings all over the place.

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So he went from, on average, 1.8 million viewers in early 2025, that return episode, 6.3 million viewers across platforms.

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That is a win.

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Also, to add in there, he had the death of his best friend, Clito Escobado, who's on the show.

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Everyone saw his emotional monologue tribute to him.

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It was absolutely beautiful.

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And that also helped really cement Jimmy Kimmel as a decent person this year.

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So that's why I'm giving him the win for it.

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He's authentic, emotionally open.

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And he was willing to challenge Trump and that mega movement and look at what happened with that.

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Jimmy Kimmel.

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Next on my list, I gotta go to the losers, American Eagle Crisis, which was a win for American Eagle, is a loss for Sidney Sweeney.

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So she is a celebrity brand who's caught up in the political interpretation.

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Dylan Mulvaney, though not as big of a celebrity, I would argue, but a much bigger presence probably online, was a casualty of it.

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Sydney Sweeney, also a casualty of it.

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So the American Eagle campaign that helped the company, I think dented Sydney Sweeney's reputation.

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Definitely with liberal audiences, online audiences.

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It did deepen her appeal with right-leaning people, but I would argue that her profile ended up bigger, but it's a damaged profile.

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I also understand coming in as a Gen Xer, I have kids, Gen Z, who totally understand Sydney Sweeney.

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I texted Rory, Kate, and Quinn, my daughters, and said, decode Sydney Sweeney for me, please.

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And her aloofness that is part of her brand, being unlikable is what makes people like her brands.

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It's somewhat all adjacent, but just not in a good way.

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And how we know this, it's not just my opinion, it's the tell.

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And the tell is in how she cleaned it up.

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Late 25, she's doing interviews and she's addressing it because first she avoided it, then she's addressing it more directly, saying that she was surprised by the reaction.

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Like, really?

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I think American Eagle absolutely planned this entire campaign.

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They shouldn't be surprised in the least.

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I think because I think it was all by design.

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So when Sydney Sweeney comes out and acts, what?

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And a little chuffed that all this happened.

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No, girl.

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You knew this was part of the playbook.

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You knew this.

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And she also said that she's against hate and divisiveness and that she did not share any of the extremist views.

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She needed to say that, but so many people saw it as a racist ad and one that she was very complicit in in terms of the planning of it.

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I mean, it was a bait ad, and it worked for American Eagle.

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It probably worked since it was a collab with American Eagle.

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So she probably made a lot of money from it.

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But we, this is not a business podcast and breakdown.

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We are reputation.

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So the reputation, I think the takeaway here is again, silence.

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It's never neutral.

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It's a decision that gets louder for people.

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What do you guys think of the Sydney Sweeney?

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Huge damage.

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All of her castmates are repelling her right now.

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I feel like Amanda Siegfried is working as her PR trying to change image.

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That's a really, really good point because I noticed those two working on something together.

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And I thought, oh, look at Amanda coming out and helping Sydney out here.

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If I could be bold, I felt she was trending towards a Marilyn Monroe archetype, and this killed it.

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Okay, good point.

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The outfit, I don't know where she wore it.

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I don't know where it was some annual gala.

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But Sydney Sweeney in the dress that was very Marilyn Monroe-esque, a little transparent in the bosom area.

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She looked beautiful in it.

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It was certainly a talking point dress.

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But when I saw that dress, I went, oh girl, that dress ain't doing it for you.

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That dress ain't doing it for you.

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Not at all.

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So that's just Sydney Sweeney.

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I think a lot of people might argue that Sydney Sweeney is fine.

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They might argue that.

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But I'm just, again, looking at her overall, what it did for her.

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It's just too polarizing.

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Now, my number three winner is very similar to Sydney Sweeney.

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She is someone who is not a clear winner from a brand reputation point of view.

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However, it's a very polarizing.

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But when you look at a name landing on the map, and someone who's been given so many opportunities for visibility, it's incredible.

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So my number three is Erica Kirk.

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This is the moment where I'm going to pause for reflection so I can take a sip of my latte.

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Because I'm dying a little bit inside saying that.

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Many of you in this community know I have a fascination with Erica Kirk.

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Not because I believe in her, side with her, I am fascinated by her.

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My thanks to this community for sharing clips of her in Summerhouse showing up in reality shows.

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So I think that encapsulates why I am putting her on my winner column.

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I am going to label reality show types right now.

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I am saying this as a person who's watched reality television, but I also work with people who are appear on reality shows.

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I have helped a number of reality stars, a number of them, go through their moments.

00:17:52.319 --> 00:17:53.359
And some are huge.

00:17:53.519 --> 00:17:58.960
So I've done network television, Bravo, all of them.

00:17:59.279 --> 00:18:04.319
And if I could share with you all what my head is doing some of those times.

00:18:04.559 --> 00:18:10.880
But in the case of Erica Kirk, the fact that she first appears, well, I shouldn't say first appears.

00:18:11.279 --> 00:18:14.400
She was Miss Arizona when she won that title.

00:18:14.640 --> 00:18:15.759
So she's done other things.

00:18:16.079 --> 00:18:17.440
She went to college, she got degrees.

00:18:17.519 --> 00:18:18.880
Okay, so we got to give her that up.

00:18:19.039 --> 00:18:23.519
But haven't we all gone to college, many of us, and received degrees?

00:18:23.759 --> 00:18:31.359
But the fact that she moves to New York and pivots to reality is what does a reality star tell you when someone wants to be on reality television?

00:18:31.519 --> 00:18:32.319
What do they want?

00:18:32.880 --> 00:18:43.119
They want fame, they want relevancy, they want an opportunity to monetize fame.

00:18:43.440 --> 00:18:47.119
It is a quick sugar rush pie to get there.

00:18:47.759 --> 00:18:52.880
It tells us what motivates Erica Kirk.

00:18:53.039 --> 00:18:57.759
And her motivation is very similar to her husband, the late Charlie Kirk.

00:18:58.079 --> 00:19:07.759
So many people praising him for how he thinks and his views and what he said and what he tried to do, praising his character and his ethos, a lot of people from the right.

00:19:08.000 --> 00:19:15.759
And then there were certainly people from the middle and in the left after he was tragically killed, said some things, even Ezra Klein to this moment.

00:19:16.000 --> 00:19:19.920
I should add him on my alt list of WTF moments of 2025.

00:19:20.079 --> 00:19:28.400
Ezra Klein, I'm sorry, you're saying that Charlie Kirk, this is a positive thing, how he brought public speech and public debate to a culture?

00:19:28.559 --> 00:19:29.440
Are you kidding me?

00:19:29.680 --> 00:19:30.000
No.

00:19:30.319 --> 00:19:38.079
He's a content creator who wanted to monetize extreme views, and he knew he could.

00:19:38.400 --> 00:19:42.640
Misogyny culture, and they turn it into trad culture and Christian and evangelical.

00:19:42.960 --> 00:19:44.720
That's where we are as a society.

00:19:45.039 --> 00:19:46.400
We monetize this.

00:19:46.640 --> 00:19:49.759
So Erica Kirk is no different than Charlie Kirk.

00:19:50.000 --> 00:19:50.799
No different at all.

00:19:51.119 --> 00:19:57.599
So why she's on the winner's list is just due to her sudden elevation.

00:19:58.160 --> 00:19:59.759
That's a it's just a sudden elevation.

00:20:01.119 --> 00:20:05.200
Because it was so huge since what happened to Charlie.

00:20:05.519 --> 00:20:10.720
And when you watched his funeral and her remarks, they really were incredible.

00:20:10.960 --> 00:20:12.319
She's a very good speaker.

00:20:12.640 --> 00:20:15.440
She's now leading this movement.

00:20:15.680 --> 00:20:18.160
I just feel it's movement mythology.

00:20:18.319 --> 00:20:20.000
I don't believe any of it.

00:20:20.240 --> 00:20:25.599
I did a post when I received in the mail campaign letter to support turning point.

00:20:25.759 --> 00:20:28.319
I'm like, girl, do you know who you're sending this to?

00:20:28.559 --> 00:20:30.559
But that's why I'm putting her on the win list.

00:20:30.720 --> 00:20:32.160
So she's very pro-life.

00:20:32.319 --> 00:20:33.440
She's evangelical.

00:20:33.680 --> 00:20:35.839
She highlights faith and family.

00:20:36.079 --> 00:20:37.519
She's the new CEO.

00:20:37.680 --> 00:20:40.559
She's the mother figure of Turning Point USA.

00:20:41.119 --> 00:20:44.240
Certainly the money is rolling into Turning Point.

00:20:44.559 --> 00:20:47.599
However, where she is, it's fragile.

00:20:47.839 --> 00:20:54.960
I promise you, in 2026, when we're sitting down here doing this list, I promise you she will not be on this list as a winner.

00:20:55.200 --> 00:20:57.279
I promise you, I will not do that.

00:20:57.440 --> 00:21:01.039
I'm only giving it because of her very, very quick ascension.

00:21:01.359 --> 00:21:15.359
So her appearance now, that she appears to be this courageous, faith-driven widow, you know, who stepped into leadership under these extreme circumstances, which from a narrative, you know, makes sense.

00:21:15.519 --> 00:21:19.599
But the liability for her, that will catch up in 2026, I think.

00:21:19.920 --> 00:21:25.839
Polarizing, heavily managed, opportunistic, conspiracy adjacent.

00:21:26.079 --> 00:21:34.960
This back and forth with Candace Owens, who is on the list for a winner in my six through 10, is just going to continue to threaten her mainstream credibility.

00:21:35.200 --> 00:21:37.279
So she's rising, but fragile.

00:21:37.519 --> 00:21:39.039
That's where I'm going to put her there.

00:21:39.359 --> 00:21:39.759
Comments.

00:21:39.839 --> 00:21:43.599
Erica Kirk's facial expressions, eyes mixed with her tone, are fascinating.

00:21:43.680 --> 00:21:46.160
I think she knows exactly how she comes across.

00:21:46.400 --> 00:21:48.559
Not entirely sure what she wants.

00:21:48.720 --> 00:21:49.440
Oh, come on.

00:21:49.599 --> 00:21:50.880
I think we know what she wants.

00:21:51.039 --> 00:21:54.000
I actually think she'd do better in a completely different field.

00:21:54.240 --> 00:21:54.960
I don't know.

00:21:55.200 --> 00:21:55.680
I don't know.

00:21:55.839 --> 00:21:57.920
But oh yes, but we have in the comments.

00:21:58.079 --> 00:22:00.400
There was the narrative with JD Vance.

00:22:00.559 --> 00:22:03.680
There is that the narrative lurking around, certainly.

00:22:03.759 --> 00:22:05.680
That is there as well, right?

00:22:05.920 --> 00:22:07.920
So we will certainly be watching.

00:22:08.079 --> 00:22:13.119
So number three in the winners, uh, in the winner group, I have Erica Kirk.

00:22:13.359 --> 00:22:17.119
All right, continuing off the list, number three losers.

00:22:17.519 --> 00:22:20.240
Let me pause for a sip if you all don't mind.

00:22:21.279 --> 00:22:21.839
Comment.

00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:22.720
Totally agree.

00:22:22.799 --> 00:22:27.119
She threw her grief into work, but she's starting to do too much.

00:22:27.680 --> 00:22:51.440
Yeah, because to brand yourself as the mother, very trad wifey, to brand yourself under content, monetized content with your husband, where staying home to be the mother, and when Charlie walks in the door on Friday, Shabbat Shalom, put your phone down, and this is nothing about family.

00:22:51.599 --> 00:22:53.119
She's now out on a book tour.

00:22:53.279 --> 00:22:54.880
No one ever sees her at home.

00:22:55.200 --> 00:23:01.279
And do you notice a lot of the content that they had was about family family?

00:23:01.519 --> 00:23:03.200
Now we don't see anything about family.

00:23:03.359 --> 00:23:07.440
We don't, which is probably smart on her point of view because she knows she'll get railed for it.

00:23:07.680 --> 00:23:09.200
Any type of videos.

00:23:09.519 --> 00:23:13.599
I think there's probably some tension in that family.

00:23:13.680 --> 00:23:16.240
I think there's just tension in turning point.

00:23:16.480 --> 00:23:23.440
Did you know that Erica didn't invite Candace to her wedding because at the time they were all coworkers at Turning Point?

00:23:23.759 --> 00:23:27.119
No, I did not know that, but I'm not surprised by that.

00:23:27.359 --> 00:23:28.480
I'm not surprised.

00:23:28.799 --> 00:23:37.119
I think Candace Owens is not going to give up until she brings Erica Kirk to her knees, honestly.

00:23:37.359 --> 00:23:38.960
All right, number three.

00:23:39.200 --> 00:23:48.079
I posted this yesterday to TikTok and Instagram and social and to Substack here in Substack.

00:23:48.240 --> 00:23:54.079
And that's because yesterday I had a day of crisis like no other.

00:23:54.240 --> 00:23:56.720
I mean, I was on the phone from 8 a.m.

00:23:57.119 --> 00:23:58.319
until 5 p.m.

00:23:58.799 --> 00:24:07.119
with clients dealing with oh my gosh, I talked all day and my COVID brain was ready to bleed out of my head.

00:24:07.200 --> 00:24:08.240
I couldn't believe it.

00:24:08.480 --> 00:24:13.039
But everything that I was talking about with my clients, you could just transfer over into culture.

00:24:13.359 --> 00:24:20.880
Then I get a text from my favorite booker, Jake, at NBC, about doing an interview about this topic.

00:24:21.039 --> 00:24:30.960
And then as I'm doing the interview with NBC, CBS Morning writes me about doing the piece for CBS Morning, which was on this morning, me talking about this topic.

00:24:31.119 --> 00:24:38.160
Kristen Cabot, who's the chief people officer, former for astronomer, and Andy Byron, the former CEO.

00:24:38.319 --> 00:24:49.279
Now, they wanted me to speak about it because Kristen Cabot worked with the New York Times, Lisa Miller, and also with the Times UK to do a little bit of an update.

00:24:49.519 --> 00:24:56.240
And I knew actually that I told the producers right away, I said, you are not going to like my take.

00:24:56.319 --> 00:25:15.200
I know from a morning television point of view, from a network news point of view, you want me to reinforce the headline from the New York Times that Kristen Cabot's bad PR advice is telling her to spin.

00:25:15.680 --> 00:25:17.440
Public shaming.

00:25:17.680 --> 00:25:23.279
And how Kristen Cabot is the victim because of you, the public.

00:25:23.839 --> 00:25:26.480
And I told them from the outset, I'm not giving you that.

00:25:26.640 --> 00:25:29.200
I am not giving you that because I don't feel that way.

00:25:29.359 --> 00:25:30.400
I know the villain.

00:25:30.559 --> 00:25:34.799
And we all know the villain in this story, and it's astronomer, the company.

00:25:35.200 --> 00:25:42.799
As you all know, this is the stadium kiss that was heard around the world, but happened in my neighborhood.

00:25:43.039 --> 00:25:47.440
And when I found out about it from all the texts, I went, damn, Coldplay was at Foxborough.

00:25:47.519 --> 00:25:50.079
I would have loved to go to that concert, but we all know it.

00:25:50.160 --> 00:25:56.000
I don't even need to waste a second telling you because I guarantee every single person on this chat saw the video.

00:25:56.240 --> 00:25:58.160
But Manny, well said.

00:25:58.640 --> 00:26:00.400
Astronomer laid them out to dry.

00:26:00.480 --> 00:26:09.839
That's exactly what happened when this thing broke late Wednesday into Thursday, and when it started to pick up traction, and it really was everywhere.

00:26:09.920 --> 00:26:16.799
I mean, was there ever another story that you talked with your friends about more than Astronomer?

00:26:17.200 --> 00:26:24.400
When you're with your girlfriends or couples or whatever, texting text groups, everybody talked about this story.

00:26:24.640 --> 00:26:28.400
It also got picked up culturally, the Phillies fanatic.

00:26:28.559 --> 00:26:36.160
We saw spoofs, Jimmy Fallon, Stephen Colbert, everybody is spoofs everywhere about this.

00:26:36.480 --> 00:26:46.799
Then there's misinformation that the CEOs married, and now everybody's going after the CEO's wife, Megan, and her Facebook page.

00:26:47.279 --> 00:26:53.920
Meanwhile, the company astronomer is sitting on their asses doing nothing.

00:26:54.480 --> 00:26:58.000
And this is where I come in.

00:26:58.720 --> 00:27:01.279
Because and the why is a huge story too.

00:27:01.440 --> 00:27:04.000
Every media network contacted me.

00:27:04.319 --> 00:27:10.559
Every network morning show contacted me to appear on their network to discuss this story.

00:27:10.799 --> 00:27:15.200
Every producer I know, every close producer who has my cell phone number.

00:27:15.359 --> 00:27:19.920
Now, thankfully, I had dental work, so I couldn't speak.

00:27:20.000 --> 00:27:20.880
I had Nova Cain.

00:27:20.960 --> 00:27:29.359
So thank goodness, because I really didn't want to talk about this story because I didn't want to pile on with this couple.

00:27:29.519 --> 00:27:31.039
I already had an inkling, a feeling.

00:27:31.119 --> 00:27:34.400
I'm like, something tells me the CEO just kind of reeked of something to me.

00:27:34.480 --> 00:27:35.599
I couldn't put my finger on it.

00:27:35.680 --> 00:27:39.759
But there was something about Kristen Cabot that I kind of felt I felt for her.

00:27:39.920 --> 00:27:41.759
Because I knew I'm like, this is a woman my age.

00:27:41.920 --> 00:27:43.359
And also they're in my neighborhood.

00:27:43.440 --> 00:27:45.519
I thought I'm gonna know people who know these people.

00:27:45.599 --> 00:27:50.079
This people in my community know this in real time because I was texting this and everyone out.

00:27:50.160 --> 00:27:53.200
I was telling them when I was finding out, like, yep, sure enough.

00:27:53.359 --> 00:27:56.400
And that couple got really close to my universe.

00:27:56.480 --> 00:27:58.240
So I found inside stories there.

00:27:58.400 --> 00:28:01.359
So I certainly have empathy for her.

00:28:01.680 --> 00:28:05.119
And in this piece, that's what she's talking about.

00:28:05.200 --> 00:28:11.519
It's highlighting the shame that happened to her, how the internet turned against her.

00:28:11.759 --> 00:28:16.319
And she recounts very personally, she wanted to tell her side of the story.

00:28:16.640 --> 00:28:25.599
And what she does well, and I'm glad she had the chance, she recounts in the New York Times piece and in the UK piece, step by step, her thinking of why she did it.

00:28:25.839 --> 00:28:29.440
I knew he was my it wasn't the right thing to do, but I was crushing.

00:28:29.599 --> 00:28:31.359
I was going through my second divorce.

00:28:31.599 --> 00:28:34.240
I have two kids, I had tickets of Coldplay.

00:28:34.319 --> 00:28:36.960
I don't love them, but I had them anyway, and I was going with friends.

00:28:37.200 --> 00:28:47.599
And when the CEO told me that he was going through wife issues, when I was going through issues, and people in my vault know that I know more about this behind the scenes.

00:28:47.920 --> 00:28:50.799
That actually confirms it, honestly, which confirms.

00:28:50.960 --> 00:28:56.480
Though I will say for the CEO, the timeline is really, really tight.

00:28:56.640 --> 00:29:01.200
There isn't even an inch of space for you to say you were separated.

00:29:01.599 --> 00:29:03.759
So that's why I put a lot on him.

00:29:04.000 --> 00:29:05.359
But she clearly was.

00:29:05.599 --> 00:29:15.599
Her soon-to-be ex was at the same concert, which feeds into her reaction when she was on the Jumbotron, her arms, she was interlocked with Andy Byron.

00:29:15.759 --> 00:29:18.079
She, you know, puts her face up and then she blows up.

00:29:18.319 --> 00:29:18.640
Okay.

00:29:19.039 --> 00:29:26.720
But then as it's going viral, astronomer just lets it sit and fester because they loved the publicity.

00:29:26.880 --> 00:29:27.759
They loved it.

00:29:28.000 --> 00:29:33.519
Now, where this story went sideways for me and is around astronomer.

00:29:33.759 --> 00:29:38.240
And even here in the chat, the death threats and impact on our kids was intense, though.

00:29:38.319 --> 00:29:41.200
Any chance it was worth trying to garner some sympathy.

00:29:41.359 --> 00:29:43.039
And that's a really important part.

00:29:43.279 --> 00:29:50.400
And on my TikTok, there was someone who replied saying the same thing, the doxing, the threats, and the so on and the so forth.

00:29:50.559 --> 00:29:54.559
And then I looked, and it was from a content creator who does PR breakdown.

00:29:54.799 --> 00:29:59.759
But in her New York Times piece in the Times UK, she does talk about it.

00:30:00.079 --> 00:30:01.279
And that it is true.

00:30:01.519 --> 00:30:06.960
But her whole framing from her PR team is to blame the internet, to blame all of you.

00:30:07.119 --> 00:30:19.359
It's your fault because you followed the story or commented on the story, and then it appeared in the press, and then it became a cultural touchstone in the summer, peak time to go viral.

00:30:19.519 --> 00:30:22.799
They're framing it as the public's fault.

00:30:23.039 --> 00:30:26.079
Now, look where we are culturally right now.

00:30:26.400 --> 00:30:46.720
This story was published on Thursday, four days earlier, five days earlier, we saw a tweet, a post from the president of the United States commenting on Rob Reiner and his wealth and his wife, Michelle Singer Reiner's death, horrific murder, and saying essentially that Rob Reiner deserved it.

00:30:47.039 --> 00:30:49.519
This is the culture that we're in right now.

00:30:49.680 --> 00:30:51.680
This is the mood of culture.

00:30:51.920 --> 00:30:59.039
It should not be surprising at all that people are going to dox her or people are going to say things to her in public.

00:30:59.200 --> 00:31:00.880
We shouldn't be surprised by that at all.

00:31:01.039 --> 00:31:02.400
But that's not our fault.

00:31:02.640 --> 00:31:05.839
That's not our fault that people are like that.

00:31:06.000 --> 00:31:06.319
Okay.

00:31:06.480 --> 00:31:10.720
So when you put that in the same pot, that's where I don't really buy that argument.

00:31:10.880 --> 00:31:12.720
Oh, but did she deserve that?

00:31:12.960 --> 00:31:16.319
No one deserves to have death threats for a viral moment.

00:31:16.480 --> 00:31:17.440
No one deserves that.

00:31:17.599 --> 00:31:18.960
But that's not our fault.

00:31:19.119 --> 00:31:31.599
That's the fault of my loser here, the company astronomer and the board and the CEO, who allowed the story to fester because they loved the publicity.

00:31:31.839 --> 00:31:34.240
And how do we know they love the publicity?

00:31:34.400 --> 00:31:46.640
Because they invested how much money with is it maximum impact or endeavor for Ryan Reynolds company to then get Gwyneth Peltrow to turn it into a bit.

00:31:47.359 --> 00:31:58.319
They invested the company funds to defend their CEO and chief people officer who were spotted having a relationship together.

00:31:58.400 --> 00:32:01.200
But still, even if it was cheating or not, doesn't matter.

00:32:01.440 --> 00:32:03.440
Those two should not be in a relationship.

00:32:03.839 --> 00:32:07.519
Senior leadership, that is a legal liability.

00:32:07.839 --> 00:32:12.160
And the company's response was to capitalize on the publicity.

00:32:12.400 --> 00:32:13.519
That's BS.

00:32:13.920 --> 00:32:21.680
So anyone who challenged me on TikTok, this PR takedown lady, girl on TikTok about that.

00:32:22.240 --> 00:32:24.240
I should be snarky, but it's true.

00:32:24.400 --> 00:32:25.599
Don't come at us.

00:32:25.839 --> 00:32:27.440
That's astronomers' fault.

00:32:27.599 --> 00:32:31.680
And then they made Gwyneth Peltrow mock her.

00:32:32.240 --> 00:32:33.599
That's why they lose.

00:32:33.839 --> 00:32:45.440
And her story, I'm not going to say that Kristen Cabot isn't telling the truth, but she was a heavy hand in that time story where she wanted to lay out bit by bit how bad it is.

00:32:45.599 --> 00:32:47.680
I'm not going to say she made up the stories.

00:32:47.759 --> 00:32:51.359
I'm not going to say that she embellished the stories.

00:32:51.519 --> 00:32:52.240
I'm not.

00:32:52.720 --> 00:32:58.079
But in my profession, I work with Kristen Cabot's all the time, all the time.

00:32:58.319 --> 00:33:06.799
And when they're at the center of a crisis and they've done something off and they're wrong, what and people can understand what they did.

00:33:06.880 --> 00:33:10.400
They shouldn't be lacerated for it, but they're still wrong.

00:33:10.640 --> 00:33:16.319
When it comes to the response, they want to double down on how awful people are treating them.

00:33:16.559 --> 00:33:17.839
I see it all the time.

00:33:18.000 --> 00:33:22.720
So to use that as a narrative and your framing for this is a massive mistake.

00:33:22.880 --> 00:33:30.000
To wait almost six months to come out with your profile piece in December in the New York Times, bad PR advice.

00:33:30.160 --> 00:33:34.160
Whoever Kristen Cabot hired for PR sucks.

00:33:34.319 --> 00:33:35.200
They're not good at it.

00:33:35.279 --> 00:33:39.119
Or they could be good at other things, but they fumbled this one.

00:33:39.279 --> 00:33:41.920
Kristen Cabot needed to tell this story.

00:33:42.079 --> 00:33:46.240
The humble, I made a human mistake, a very human mistake.

00:33:46.559 --> 00:33:49.119
That story needed to come out months ago.

00:33:49.279 --> 00:33:51.039
So that's my take.

00:33:51.440 --> 00:33:53.839
Now I'm going to go to the winner's list.

00:33:53.920 --> 00:33:55.440
And also, is it just me?

00:33:55.680 --> 00:33:59.680
I really felt like I was an island on there because everybody loved that astronomer ad.

00:33:59.839 --> 00:34:03.279
Ad Age said it was one of their top astronomers or one of the ads for the year.

00:34:03.519 --> 00:34:06.880
Depending on your metric, views, impressions, sure.

00:34:07.039 --> 00:34:12.960
But can anyone honestly tell you, can anyone here say they know what astronomer does as a company?

00:34:13.119 --> 00:34:14.559
Is anyone here a consumer?

00:34:14.639 --> 00:34:15.760
No, they're B2B.

00:34:16.000 --> 00:34:19.119
So no, I say massive, massive fail.

00:34:19.360 --> 00:34:20.400
All right, number two win.

00:34:20.480 --> 00:34:23.599
I'm not going to spend a lot of time here because we spent a lot of time here on Wednesday.

00:34:23.760 --> 00:34:25.119
And it's just too obvious, right?

00:34:25.199 --> 00:34:27.119
Number two is going to be Taylor Swift.

00:34:27.280 --> 00:34:30.559
Obviously, I mean she's always big, but she had such a massive year.

00:34:30.800 --> 00:34:34.800
Why she's in the reputation piece of it, as we all learned in the vault on Wednesday night.

00:34:34.960 --> 00:34:41.119
And by the way, if anyone wants to watch the video of the interview from our chat on Wednesday with Dr.

00:34:41.280 --> 00:34:43.519
Abbey, it's posted now in the membership.

00:34:43.599 --> 00:34:45.760
So if you want to watch it, it's fascinating.

00:34:45.920 --> 00:34:50.559
But we talked a lot about Taylor Swift, Travis Kelsey, the release of the news.

00:34:50.719 --> 00:34:51.760
I guess you can call it a release.

00:34:51.840 --> 00:34:56.239
Anyone else would be an engagement announcement, but with them, it's a release that happened on the podcast.

00:34:56.400 --> 00:35:02.239
She sidesteps a lot of things and she does it brilliantly with the help of Tree Payne, her publicist, her strategist.

00:35:02.320 --> 00:35:03.360
She's more than a publicist.

00:35:03.440 --> 00:35:06.960
She's a flat out just strategist and a genius at that.

00:35:07.119 --> 00:35:10.320
Taylor Swift deserves to be on this list for this year.

00:35:10.559 --> 00:35:24.639
She also had to sidestep a lot of just mini blow-ups to political polarization, endorsing Kamala Harris, when you know that so many people on the right love her, especially with the Chiefs and Travis Kelsey.

00:35:25.039 --> 00:35:28.480
She is someone who constantly has to sidestep things.

00:35:28.559 --> 00:35:30.320
So I give her a lot of credit for that.

00:35:30.559 --> 00:35:32.880
Also, the whole thing of Blake Lively.

00:35:33.039 --> 00:35:34.800
The whole thing of Blake Lively blowing up.

00:35:34.880 --> 00:35:36.880
And Taylor Swift had to navigate that.

00:35:37.039 --> 00:35:40.320
So that's where I give her a lot of credit for that.

00:35:40.480 --> 00:35:43.920
Also, Life of a Showgirl took a lot of hits, a lot of dings.

00:35:44.400 --> 00:35:45.039
I loved it.

00:35:45.119 --> 00:35:46.559
I'm not a huge Taylor Swift fan.

00:35:46.639 --> 00:35:49.599
And, you know, I'm a mom of daughters, so we certainly went through our eras.

00:35:49.760 --> 00:35:52.079
But when that album came out, I listened to it like 5 a.m.

00:35:52.239 --> 00:35:53.280
when I was running on the treadmill.

00:35:53.360 --> 00:35:54.960
I'm like, this I like this album.

00:35:55.039 --> 00:35:55.519
I like it.

00:35:55.679 --> 00:35:57.039
So she's gonna be my win.

00:35:57.199 --> 00:35:58.320
She's gonna be number two.

00:35:58.559 --> 00:36:02.159
Because when you have to navigate big things, I think she did it very well on the chat.

00:36:02.239 --> 00:36:05.199
The Blake Lively Fiasco is her team's greatest work.

00:36:05.679 --> 00:36:06.719
Thank you for saying that.

00:36:06.800 --> 00:36:08.719
Yeah, I have to agree with that.

00:36:08.960 --> 00:36:09.519
All right.

00:36:09.679 --> 00:36:10.800
So let's go.

00:36:11.039 --> 00:36:13.920
Should we do let me do the number one win?

00:36:14.079 --> 00:36:15.679
Oh, you still think the album stinks?

00:36:15.760 --> 00:36:16.079
You don't like it?

00:36:16.159 --> 00:36:16.639
Yeah, fair.

00:36:16.719 --> 00:36:20.320
I could see why people don't like it, but my gen X brain really kind of liked it.

00:36:20.480 --> 00:36:21.440
I knew listening to it.

00:36:21.519 --> 00:36:24.400
I'm like, ooh, listen to Ophelia.

00:36:25.119 --> 00:36:26.159
Good running beat.

00:36:26.320 --> 00:36:27.840
Let me do my number one win.

00:36:28.079 --> 00:36:29.199
Here we go.

00:36:29.599 --> 00:36:37.440
My number one winner of the year, it's Dolly Parton.

00:36:37.840 --> 00:36:46.079
She had a microcrisis and she handled it with speed and warmth and just Dolly.

00:36:46.880 --> 00:36:48.320
Absolutely amazing response.

00:36:48.480 --> 00:36:59.360
If you remember back in October, there was a scare around her health when her sister went on Facebook and said prayers for Dolly.

00:36:59.599 --> 00:37:01.199
She was having health issues.

00:37:01.440 --> 00:37:06.960
She had also, right around Halloween, had stepped back from a Halloween event at Dollywood.

00:37:07.119 --> 00:37:08.639
So she just wasn't feeling well.

00:37:08.880 --> 00:37:15.519
That comment on Facebook will naturally went viral because people were very worried that there was something wrong with Dolly.

00:37:15.840 --> 00:37:19.519
I saw it and I immediately posted something right away.

00:37:19.679 --> 00:37:26.800
And then as I posted, Dolly Parton comes up with a new response to it.

00:37:27.039 --> 00:37:30.880
She has kind of a horsey voice and saying, I know many of you are worried out there.

00:37:30.960 --> 00:37:32.159
I'm fine, I'm fine, I'm fine.

00:37:32.239 --> 00:37:34.159
I was like, damn, girl.

00:37:34.320 --> 00:37:35.920
Who's better than Dolly Parton?

00:37:36.079 --> 00:37:37.679
Who is better than Dolly Parton?

00:37:37.840 --> 00:37:39.039
So I'm traveling.

00:37:39.119 --> 00:37:39.920
Where was I?

00:37:40.079 --> 00:37:41.039
I was speaking somewhere.

00:37:41.119 --> 00:37:41.599
I can't remember.

00:37:41.760 --> 00:37:44.159
I was on the road, but I was in a hotel in Minneapolis.

00:37:44.400 --> 00:37:45.360
I can't remember.

00:37:45.519 --> 00:37:46.480
But I was on the road.

00:37:46.639 --> 00:37:56.239
Then I get an email from Dolly Parton's publicist, reaches out to me and says that I had part of it wrong about the response in my take.

00:37:56.400 --> 00:37:59.039
I think I was making some assumptions behind the scene.

00:37:59.119 --> 00:38:02.559
And he said I got part of it wrong, but I actually didn't get it wrong.

00:38:02.800 --> 00:38:06.159
Or no, I did get it wrong, but technically I didn't get it wrong.

00:38:06.239 --> 00:38:11.679
Because what he said was in my take, I said a representative for Dolly said XYZ.

00:38:12.000 --> 00:38:15.599
And Dolly's publicist said, that's not Dolly's publicist.

00:38:15.760 --> 00:38:17.119
I'm Dolly's publicist.

00:38:17.519 --> 00:38:25.440
But when someone officially speaks out on your behalf, it doesn't matter about the hierarchy, who has what title.

00:38:25.679 --> 00:38:26.960
That's your spokesperson.

00:38:27.440 --> 00:38:28.639
That is your spokesperson.

00:38:28.880 --> 00:38:29.599
That's how it works.

00:38:29.760 --> 00:38:34.159
So I was quoting the publicist said, that's someone who works on our tour.

00:38:34.239 --> 00:38:35.360
That has nothing to do with us.

00:38:35.440 --> 00:38:36.000
I disagree.

00:38:36.079 --> 00:38:37.119
But I wasn't going to say that.

00:38:37.280 --> 00:38:38.880
So he and I have been going back and forth.

00:38:39.039 --> 00:38:42.079
And even this week, because I wanted to get him for an interview.

00:38:42.159 --> 00:38:44.639
But I told him, I said, I'm just so all over this.

00:38:44.800 --> 00:38:45.280
I love it.

00:38:45.360 --> 00:38:46.400
And it was a fantastic.

00:38:46.719 --> 00:38:50.400
So she is my number one.

00:38:50.880 --> 00:38:56.239
And I know in the chat here, people are saying, yes, you want to go to Dollywood this year.

00:38:56.400 --> 00:38:57.039
I loved it.

00:38:57.119 --> 00:38:58.960
I went to Dollywood as a kid.

00:38:59.280 --> 00:39:00.480
Who could ever outdo?

00:39:00.800 --> 00:39:03.199
It takes a lot of money to look this cheap.

00:39:03.440 --> 00:39:04.559
That is so true.

00:39:04.800 --> 00:39:06.800
Dolly is a classic.

00:39:06.960 --> 00:39:10.639
And can you imagine a life where we don't have a doll?

00:39:10.960 --> 00:39:12.159
I'm not even going to finish the sentence.

00:39:12.239 --> 00:39:13.679
I'm not even going to finish what I was going to say.

00:39:13.760 --> 00:39:14.559
I'm not going to finish it.

00:39:14.719 --> 00:39:14.960
Okay.

00:39:15.199 --> 00:39:29.199
So now we're going to do the top PR losers for 2025 because it's so obvious, right?

00:39:29.360 --> 00:39:31.119
You know, who the losers are here.

00:39:31.280 --> 00:39:38.800
And we look at it with all the metrics: press, social chatter, money, reputational loss.

00:39:39.119 --> 00:39:42.719
I did find out, I think, was this supposed to be off the record?

00:39:42.880 --> 00:39:44.880
A people magazine interview last week.

00:39:44.960 --> 00:39:46.480
I think it's coming out this weekend.

00:39:46.639 --> 00:39:51.039
And they're definitely using my stuff in it about Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds.

00:39:51.199 --> 00:39:51.519
Okay.

00:39:51.760 --> 00:39:57.920
So the fact that they use it again, just like my CBS morning interview when I told them, you know, what's your agenda?

00:39:58.239 --> 00:39:59.760
Because I don't think I'm going to fit your agenda.

00:40:00.159 --> 00:40:02.800
Because I know that People magazine is a mouthpiece.

00:40:02.960 --> 00:40:08.000
Like that's where Blake and Ryan go to spin their, they go to People Magazine.

00:40:08.239 --> 00:40:13.599
But I was in a very right down the middle piece that was more of the factual piece.

00:40:13.679 --> 00:40:15.679
So my stuff was in there, which was good.

00:40:15.920 --> 00:40:20.079
But we're going to put Ryan Reynolds at kind of number two, Blake Lively at number one.

00:40:20.400 --> 00:40:28.960
So what it is for both of them, it's just persona erosion under legal and PR scrutiny.

00:40:29.280 --> 00:40:33.760
Ryan Reynolds, his career right now, I'd I call the transition zone.

00:40:34.000 --> 00:40:36.239
He still has a lot of brand equity.

00:40:36.480 --> 00:40:38.239
He's still hireable.

00:40:38.400 --> 00:40:39.519
He still has money.

00:40:39.679 --> 00:40:42.400
He's still a big A-list celebrity.

00:40:42.719 --> 00:40:49.280
But they branded themselves reputationally as a cute couple, the back and forth, the banter.

00:40:49.519 --> 00:40:50.719
They nailed the banter, right?

00:40:50.800 --> 00:40:53.760
But now we know those two were never bantery.

00:40:53.840 --> 00:40:55.199
They weren't bantering at all.

00:40:55.360 --> 00:40:56.320
It was just marketing.

00:40:56.400 --> 00:40:57.199
It was stick.

00:40:57.519 --> 00:41:04.159
It was Ryan Reynolds manufacturing a persona of their brand that isn't matching up to that.

00:41:04.400 --> 00:41:07.360
Now he's labeled as a jerk.

00:41:07.679 --> 00:41:08.800
That's his label.

00:41:08.880 --> 00:41:13.039
And that's why he's taking such a massive hit, in my opinion.

00:41:13.280 --> 00:41:17.679
This legal drama with Justin Baldone, so overmanaged on PR.

00:41:17.840 --> 00:41:21.679
And the reason why he's attached, obviously, is the husband, you know, of Blake Lively.

00:41:22.079 --> 00:41:25.760
But you all know in the vault, in my community, you all know this.

00:41:26.320 --> 00:41:28.719
Ryan Reynolds, in my opinion, is the driver behind this.

00:41:28.880 --> 00:41:29.119
Dr.

00:41:29.280 --> 00:41:31.119
Abby Metcalf saying the same thing.

00:41:31.440 --> 00:41:32.639
He is the driver.

00:41:32.880 --> 00:41:40.400
We learned from our video on Wednesday, our live chat, Blake Lively likely is codependent.

00:41:40.559 --> 00:41:42.079
She's a pleaser.

00:41:42.480 --> 00:41:44.719
She's dependent on Ryan Reynolds.

00:41:44.880 --> 00:41:47.119
He's the money guy, big guy in the relationship.

00:41:47.199 --> 00:41:48.159
She's trying to please him.

00:41:48.239 --> 00:41:50.159
She does whatever he wants and whatever he needs.

00:41:50.320 --> 00:41:56.079
I personally think her and Justin got too close and Ryan came in and imploded it.

00:41:56.239 --> 00:41:59.440
And now they went to the point of no return, right?

00:41:59.599 --> 00:42:11.840
They passed the Rubicon last December at this time when they filed the civil complaint against Justin Baldoney and then worked hand in hand with the New York Times on this hit piece against Justin Baldone.

00:42:12.320 --> 00:42:14.639
And they deserve everything that they get.

00:42:14.719 --> 00:42:24.559
Now, Blake Lively is by far and away my number one reputational casualty for 2025 because the career risk litigation has spiraled for her.

00:42:24.800 --> 00:42:28.960
She is suing Justin Baldoni for$160 million for reputational loss.

00:42:29.119 --> 00:42:33.039
So we actually have a dollar figure for why she's number one on my list of losers.

00:42:33.599 --> 00:42:40.079
But those liabilities as someone who tracks us for a living comes from a natural place.

00:42:40.239 --> 00:42:43.840
I still dispute that it was part of an orchestrated smear campaign.

00:42:43.920 --> 00:42:49.199
Justin Beldone and their team doesn't have the operational back end to do all of that at that level.

00:42:49.440 --> 00:42:51.679
Blake Lively didn't have a lot of goodwill to begin with.

00:42:51.840 --> 00:42:53.920
She was already in a goodwill hole.

00:42:54.239 --> 00:42:55.679
So it crushed her.

00:42:55.760 --> 00:43:00.239
And she had spent a year and millions of dollars trying to bury Justin Beldoney.

00:43:00.400 --> 00:43:04.719
It's not like he's coming out great, but those two get it a lot worse.

00:43:05.039 --> 00:43:08.239
Her brand now is just lawsuit energy.

00:43:08.400 --> 00:43:09.519
That's her brand.

00:43:09.840 --> 00:43:18.480
And people will stop viewing her and looking at her by her work, and they're going to evaluate her for her persona.

00:43:18.880 --> 00:43:23.599
It's going to be less damaging for Ryan Reynolds because he is, as a man, sorry, I'm just going to say it.

00:43:23.760 --> 00:43:25.360
Males have more opportunities.

00:43:25.679 --> 00:43:31.440
Males can use being a jerk to their benefit, but women can't.

00:43:31.840 --> 00:43:34.480
Women can't use being strong, it doesn't help them.

00:43:34.719 --> 00:43:40.239
In the end, women always run out of runway, which is going to happen to Blake Lively.

00:43:40.639 --> 00:43:46.480
So that's why she sits on the top of my list with her husband, Ryan Reynolds.

00:43:46.800 --> 00:43:47.920
All right, everyone.

00:43:54.480 --> 00:44:00.079
Our top PR crises winners and losers for 2025.

00:44:00.960 --> 00:44:05.599
Some people might just give you the top PR crises for the years, but not here.

00:44:05.840 --> 00:44:08.800
We have to highlight the winners as well.

00:44:09.199 --> 00:44:12.320
You can certainly watch this list again if you missed some of it.

00:44:12.559 --> 00:44:14.719
The replay will be on Substack.

00:44:14.960 --> 00:44:18.239
It will also be on the podcast next week.

00:44:18.480 --> 00:44:24.079
6 through 10 is on the podcast, the PR Breakdown Podcast, and it's also here on Substack.

00:44:24.320 --> 00:44:28.800
I want to thank all of you in this community for joining me.

00:44:29.119 --> 00:44:39.840
My thanks to all of you for your support, for spending time with me, and with your comments, your humor, your wit, and your strategic brilliance as well.

00:44:39.920 --> 00:44:41.440
I've enjoyed every minute of it.

00:44:41.599 --> 00:44:42.639
So thanks everyone.

00:44:42.800 --> 00:44:46.559
I wish you all the best during this holiday season.

00:44:46.800 --> 00:44:51.760
And I can't wait to revisit our connection back in 2026.

00:44:51.920 --> 00:44:52.960
Bye for now.