Public Relations and Marketing people working in Hollywood must be some of the hardest working people in the world. No matter who they are, or what a dirtbag they may be, these people have to convince the public to love them. Working against them are the the gossip rags and paparazzi and everyone else who stand to make a buck when their charges slip up. Making it worse are the celebs themselves making arses of themselves, having an off day, a bit to much to drink and winding up flinging a phone at hotel staff or calling a police officer ‘sugar tits’.
In the following ten cases, the PR folks have managed to go above and beyond, because there’s something a wee bit off about each of them.
10. Mel Gibson
Ok, this is a given but it was such a spectacular fall from public grace this list without a mention. Mel Gibson managed a perfect public image – he seemed to be humble, grounded, witty and an all-round good guy. His movie choices reflected this, playing the tough guy, family man and ladies man one after the other. Occasionally he took to the lens himself to show a bit more depth to his character. Then he got drug and let the facade down, leading to a massively reported anti-Semitic rant that concluded with him in the drunk tank. It’s save to say that he hasn’t been viewed the same way since.
9. Joel Schumacher
Sure he gave us ‘The Lost Boys’, but there’s one thing that is completely unforgivable – fucking up Batman. Taking such a well loved and respected franchise and using it to showcase your new fascination with extreme sports is disrespectful at best and dickish the rest of the time. To be fair, he’s not the only director to screw up a big franchise, so he makes this list for his response. ‘Batman & Robin’ marks the first instance of an opening weekend being affected by poor internet reviews being circulated, and Schumacher, unwilling to take credit for this failure, turned around and said that the films poor box office was entirely on the shoulders of online critic and uber-nerd Harry Knowles.
8. Halle Berry
Again a big Oscar winner, again a big box office draw, again a celebrity who just seems like a crappy kinda person. Whilst I do respect the fact that she accepted her Razzie in person, taking the bad as well as the good, there’s no excuse whatsoever for disgracing the name ‘Catwoman’ the way she did. Oh, plus there’s the little incident where she caused a traffic accident, then fled the scene. Twice. Seriously, who could like someone who commits a hit and run?
7. Jerry Seinfeld
It’s a bit of a giveaway when the character based on the performer is largely unlikable, but to get an idea of what a pillock Jerry Seinfeld is you need to look at what he left out of his on-screen persona. It was largely touted that the on-screen Seinfeld was just Seinfeld himself, playing out scenarios he’d gotten into – except that the on-screen Seinfeld wasn’t a chain smoker. Nor was he an aggressive control freak. He also wasn’t seen dating sixteen year old girls on the show. Turns out the Seinfeld character may have been slightly edited.
6. Hayden Panettiere
Celebrities can have it tough when it comes to crazy fans, but if you accept the headline spot for a national convention the people standing in line for hours to pay for your time, they might expect a little courtesy at the very least. Panettiere, the much publicized star of Australia’s Supernova pop-culture convention didn’t seem to feel that it was worth being polite, completely ignoring people who addressed her and barely making eye contact with those asking for autographs. The fans who coughed up $50 for a photograph with their favourite hero, as she would barely stand near them, and any contact was strictly monitored.
5. January Jones
A fairly new actress on the scene, Jones is on the cusp of the A-List having followed up the smash hit television show ‘Mad Men’ with the blockbuster ‘X-Men: First Class’. The bad reputation started when she commented on her good relationship with star-on-the-rise Zach Galifinakis, only for him to turn around and declare this untrue, stating that he found her rude inviting him to sit with her in a public area only to be dismissed after the photo opportunity had passed. Stories then began to appear more frequently with the most recent coming from a child actor from ‘Mad Men’ wanting to caution his replacement that while all his co-stars were great to work with, they should steer clear of Jones whom he described as ‘unapproachable and cold’. Yikes.
4. Denzel Washington
Quite a successful, multi-award winning big box office draw, there’s something about this guy that rubs me up the wrong way. This could just be me, but this dude seems intolerably smug and unjustifiably so given that he only has a few actors tics up his sleeve. I’ve never seen him in a role that didn’t involve him staring in a condescending manner over the top of steepled fingers in a manner that suggest that showing any further emotion was simply beyond him as an actor. There’s plenty of decent looking Washington flicks out there that I’ve never seen just because he seems so damn smug.
3. Kevin Smith
Indie hero Kevin Smith was a true underdog story, digging himself out of a funk working in a convenience store by writing a directing a movie about just that, funded by selling off his comic collection. He was a man of the people, happy to meet his fans and making the movies he wanted to make. The big mistake, however, may have been releasing his diary for public consumption. What we get upon reading is a textbook case of narcissism. Smith is completely unable to accept any form of criticism nor responsibility for his mistakes, and dedicates plenty of time to explaining why his detractors couldn’t possibly be right. He has even been known to go as far as taking to the internet to attack fans who didn’t like his most recent works. If you need any further proof, take into consideration that this guy published a book that’s 90% him sitting on the can long enough to rupture his own sphincter (literally), something he shares in great detail. And speaking as a parent, I’m horrified that he feeds his child three fast food meals every single day.
2. George Lucas
A man seemingly running a scientific experiment to see what it takes to turn a completely dedicated fan base against him. George Lucas struck gold with his third feature, a sci-fi epic that spawned a franchise and a merchandising empire, doing plenty to please the growing fanatics. In recent times things have changed bit by bit. The special editions, the prequels, the Blu-Rays and the ongoing glut of terrible spin-offs and merchandise have started to turn people away. Lucas remains either oblivious to the negative reactions or, worse, he’s fully aware of what people have said about his recent work and he has chosen to ignore it in favour of making a quick buck. Not only does he disrespect his product and his fans, but he’s a complete hypocrite having once spoken at a senate hearing preventing studios from colourising black and white classics.
1. Gwyneth Paltrow
Not one who draws much publicity for wild antics or crazy behaviour, but one who manages to draw plenty of negative attention. As an actor (and now a musician) she has drawn praise and big box office bucks for mediocre performances. Her Oscar win for the lead female in the sappy-beyond-belief ‘Shakespeare in Love’ is often cited as one of the lowest points in the awards history, but none of that is the reason she has entire articles dedicated to how much she’s loathed.
The reason that I, like so many others, have a bone to pick with Paltrow is the sheer audacity the airhead demonstrates in her blog (stupidly named ‘Goop’) in which she dedicates articles to advice for “real working Mums”. For someone who was born into money, collects a hefty Hollywood paycheck and married into one of the biggest money makers in music today, it takes plenty of cheek to describe oneself as a ‘working mum’. Taking it further, parenting advice from someone who has a nanny for each child? That’s akin to me offering advice on being a woman. Such ‘advice’ includes ensuring your private personal trainer can come around on a Monday to “get you pumped” for the week, finding a fishmonger you’ll deliver at least twice a week and making sure that you limit how much time your kids have playing games on their iPads.
Just to make her even more unlikable, she marked the ten year anniversary of the World Trade Centre attacks by publicly claiming that she “saved a persons life” by almost running them over, causing them to miss the train to work in the towers the day of the event. You’re a real miracle worker, you vapid bitch.
G-Funk
The Super Network 