Surviving Celebrity News
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Learn about best practices for reporting on celebrity boating news with this Case Study from the Nevada Department of Wildlife from 2013 about Erin Brockovich's BUI arrest.
Surviving Celebrity News
- 1. Surviving Celebrity News The Real Erin Brockovich Story, 2013 WWW.BOATBEAT.ORG
- 2. Overview + In June 2013, The Nevada Department of Wildlife arrested Erin Brockovich for operating a boat under the influence + Brockovich was the subject of a year 2000 biopic and was played by Julia Roberts + Although not a movie star herself, the Brockovich arrest created extreme interest from entertainment media and tested agency resources
- 3. Celebrity News + Adding the element of celebrity to any event adds extreme scrutiny + Celebrity can test your crisis media policies, practices and skills + The rules of PR change under Hollywoods gaze + It can happen to any of you at any time
- 4. More Fame Now Than Ever + Reality television + Armchair politicians, socialites and the wealthy + Social media and YouTube stars + Fame is more common, harder to quantify yet drives the news cycle like nothing else + Arguably Brockovich is famous but how famous?
- 5. Incident Summary + Fri. June 7, 2013 at about 6:30 pm game warden encounters Brockovich as Operating Under the Influence + Law Enforcement team discusses at about 7:30 following arrest + Ed Lyngar is contacted by arresting officer at 9 pm during transport of Brockovich to jail + She is booked into Clark County detention center + Makes bail sometime Saturday Morning + Media story broken by gossip site TMZ on Saturday at 9:30 pm
- 7. Fun Facts Behind Incident + Ed Lyngar was asked to hold it through weekend + Arresting officer had been out of FTO status for less than a month, was 23 years old, first arrest + After the story broke, the Nevada Department of Wildlife issued a pre-prepared statement
- 8. Statement A Nevada Department of Wildlife game warden arrested Erin Brockovich-Ellis for operating a boat under the influence of alcohol at Las Vegas Boat Harbor Our game warden observed Brockovich-Ellis struggling to dock her boat and attempted to assist her when he noticed several signs of being intoxicated. After a thorough investigation, the game warden arrested Brockovich-Ellis and transported her to the Clark County Detention Center. The suspect was cooperative This incident serves as a reminder that boating under the influence is a crime on par with driving under the influence. Many boaters do not realize that the penalties for OUI and DUI are virtually identical, including immediate arrest and heavy fines.
- 9. All Media Hell Breaks Loose + Saturday night, all day Sunday, calls come in from all over the world + Received an endless parade of phone calls for 48 solid hours + Late Sunday evening, Ed Lyngar got sick of calls, and reached out to AP and gave a long interview to attempt to stop the incoming calls
- 11. Photo + Calls slowed Until Monday afternoon when Ed Lyngar dropped this unfortunate pic + Released with D.A. permission + 100 Million hits (said Katie Couric) + New statement included + Re-Ignited original firestorm
- 12. Follow Up Statement (Mon) + Attached is the Erin Brockovich-Ellis booking photo ... (basic case info) + This case is just one of many OUI arrests game wardens with Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW) make every summer on Nevada waters. Operating under the influence is a serious and ongoing problem in boating (few more facts) + On the weekend of June 28th, 2013 Nevada and other boating agencies across the nation will participate in Operation Dry Water a weekend-long event designed to discourage drunken boating. Learn more on the web at http://operationdrywater.org/
- 15. Brockovich Issues Apology + June 10, 2013 Brockovich issues very savvy apology + Blunted the impact of the final report issued 2 days later (that included some unfortunate detail)
- 17. The Aftermath + Several weeks of news churn + Our part mostly over following mug and release of final report + Brockovich manages her own crisis media, culminating with an interview on Katie Couric + http://katiecouric.com/videos/exclusive-erin-brockovich-breaks- silence-oui-arrest/
- 18. Katie Couric Interview + Ended any worry of a legal defense + Shows savvy crisis media management by Brockovich + Public apology effectively ended the story
- 19. Benefits to Celebrity + Without being a ghoul about it: Celebrity interactions offer an opportunity + Few people care about issues such as OUI, until someone is killed or someone famous is arrested: Feel good about exploiting the latter + Do treat celebrities with compassion: They are human beings, but we can and should NOT try and protect them from their own actions
- 20. What To Do Differently + Release the mug shot on agency social media rather than over e-mail + Would have issued a preemptive statement (original plan) + Conduct better follow up with reporters after + Convince DA to make PSA part of plea deal (we tried this but DA balked at it)
- 21. Update on Brockovich + Has had several appearances since OUI arrest + Will not work with NDOW for PSA + Has successfully put the incident behind her + Did help raise the level of attention on OUI
- 22. In the future, everyone will be famous for 15 minutes. -Andy Warhol
- 23. Surviving Celebrity News Questions? Contact: Ed Lyngar Nevada Department of Wildlife elyngar@ndow.org or 775-688-1548 WWW.BOATBEAT.ORG