Silence Is Golden, Or Not

Public relations specialists were earning their money on Music Row the last few days.

First, a well-handled divorce announcement concerning the five-year marriage of Kelsea Ballerini and Morgan Evans. A difficult subject, and presented textbook style.

Ballerini made the announcement on Instagram, and made it with as positive a spin as you can with the story out in the wild, an “unnamed source” filling in the details via People magazine. That had the hand of a PR person spinning it in the best way possible.

Well handled, and not all of these are. Being married during the Covid shutdown was hard on many relationships, married and unmarried.

Then there is the open sore PR mess 180 degrees in the opposite direction: Jason Aldean vs. Maren Morris et al.

I’m sure you’ve seen it as the top story on “E! News,” People and “Entertainment Tonight.” Even during a busy time like the MTV Video Awards, the story still got high visibility space.

Not going to be stupid enough to dive in specifically to the razor blade-filled subject and positions of those two opposing forces. That said, politics are and have always been polarizing.

The Dixie Chicks’ PR disaster is taught in college on how not to do something.

The red side opinion vs. the blue side is the undercurrent.

Many hate Trump and many hate people who hate Trump. That’s the root of the Aldean/Morris fracas, so it didn’t take much to get that firecracker to explode, including Aldean’s longtime PR firm resigning from the account.

The word “scumbag” (used by Morris) might not be a good word in general. The name calling in general is a Trump trademark, and in this case used by the opposition. It’s a mess.

Hopefully, smart, calm bosses have thrown cold water on all of them and suggested this is not good for business.

As we head to the midterms and revisit the two-year grind of the presidential run to 2024, publicists, managers and label heads need to counsel their signees that politics can be fatal for your career. It’s a volatile subject.

You can be like Dolly Parton and avoid them 100%, or like some on the red and blue persuasion to go all in. Full blast FOX or social media, and blue friendly publications.

Garth Brooks played the Biden inauguration. That’s a celebration of the American political system, but even that got some tongues wagging. Playing for a President at the White House or in a military theatre is about being an American. PR people need to make sure that fireproofing is put on all events like that.

These are stressful times. Alan Jackson cancelled a show due to Covid. That’s still a huge issue hanging over the business, along with the economy/inflation, and the costs of putting out a show on the road and selling tickets to it.

Stay away from fights online. Engage at your own peril. And yes, there are huge risks in swimming in a shark-filled pool. The old saying is, “You can’t un-ring a bell!” People have a hard time unhearing things.

Be careful, be smart, and THINK before you type!