Disgraced Celebrity Comebacks

By Lacey Rose
Forbes.com
December 6, 2006

In Pictures:
Disgraced Celebrity Comebacks

Mel Gibson’s drunken, anti-Semitic rant last July seemed an irreversible blow to his Hollywood career. But Gibson launched into full crisis mode, issuing a series of mea culpas and entering rehab. Now the question is, will the public forgive him and turn out for his latest film, The Walt Disney Co.'s Apocalypto, a self-produced and directed action-adventure about the once prominent Mayan civilization, opening Dec. 8?

If history is any indication, the cards are in his favor.

“The moral and ethical lines in entertainment are different from those in the rest of society,” says Mike Paul, a New York-based reputation management expert. “Hollywood is very forgiving--it’s a kind of fantasy land as far as reputations go.”

Assuming a celebrity’s misdeed is within reason (those involving children often are not), a strong sense of remorse coupled with an expertly timed mea culpa is usually enough for the public to forgive--and forget--the admitted transgression.

“If celebrities are willing to acknowledge that they’ve made a mistake or that they have a problem, people will cut them a lot of slack,” says veteran publicist Allan Mayer, a partner at 42West who has mopped up the messes of Halle Berry and R. Kelly, among other celebrities.

In Pictures: Disgraced Celebrity Comebacks

Of course, there are those cases where no amount of apologizing will reverse the public sentiment. Yes, even Hollywood has it limits. (Did someone say O.J. Simpson?)

Consider Roscoe “Fatty” Arbuckle, an early 20th century comedy actor who was accused of both rape and murder in 1921. Though he was finally acquitted for the heinous crime--er, crimes--the severity of the case, as well as the bad publicity that ensued, put a dagger in his career.

Or more recently, Paul Reubens, a comedian best known for his child-friendly role as Pee-wee Herman. Arrested twice--first in 1991 for indecent exposure at an adult movie theater, and then again a decade later for possession of child pornography--Reubens was never able to recuperate.

But the public’s refusal to forgive is more the exception than the norm, particularly in today’s celebrity-obsessed culture, says Tyler Cowen, author of What Price Fame?.

“By now, we’ve seen so many people do so many [scandalous] things and so much more is open, written in memoirs and broadcast on the Internet,” he says. “So if Wynona Rider [shoplifts] or Lindsay Lohan checks into Alcoholics Anonymous, it’s sort of no big deal. You’re willing to forget it almost immediately.”

That’s not to say there isn’t a right--and wrong--way to come clean.

“The building blocks of any excellent reputation are the same building blocks to get somebody back on track,” explains Paul. “They are honesty, humility, consistency, accountability and transparency.”

Longtime Hollywood publicist Michael Levine, who has also authored books on the topic, adds humor to the list, if the circumstance allows it. “Nothing melts tension like humor,” he says.

Hugh Grant is often cited as textbook for how to handle a scandal. Upon getting caught with a prostitute in 1995, he didn’t pretend it was anything other than what it was: an example of shockingly bad judgment. Soon after, he went on the talk-show circuit and in the midst of his self-deprecating quips made it clear that he had wronged and was sorry.

The actor was quickly forgiven, as evidenced by the success of his first post-scandal film, Nine Months. In today’s dollars, the flick grossed some $92.2 million in the U.S.

“But once the public feels a celebrity is trying to pull something over on them,” warns Mayer, “they will be much less willing to forgive.”

Take Eddie Murphy, an archetype consistently employed to demonstrate poor crisis management. Caught red-handed in a similar situation two years after Grant, Murphy tried to pretend it hadn’t happened.

But even with the poorly planned--or perhaps unplanned--handling, Murphy had little, if any, career fallout. In his first post-crisis leading role in Doctor Doolittle, the comedian-turned-actor scored big--in today’s dollars, the film garnered $178.5 million at the U.S. box office.

It’s too early to tell whether Gibson’s upcoming flick will fare as well. In his case, his talent, which unlike his morality was never in question, may serve as his saving grace.

“It certainly helps that the crisis is external to his career,” explains Paul. “When it’s a personal crisis, there is an opportunity to have a mea culpa with the personal crisis and then continue doing excellent work in your career. If the career itself is in crisis--say your last five pictures didn’t make money--it’s much more difficult [to rebound].”

Mayer says the reservoir of goodwill Gibson has amassed will also work to his advantage. “If a celebrity is someone for whom the public has a reason to want to like and want to find a reason to excuse whatever they did, they’re obviously in a better position than someone who doesn’t have that kind of goodwill in the bank,” he explains.

Gibson seems confident as well. When asked whether he felt his remarks would hurt Apocalypto’s box office, he told Entertainment Weekly: “The movie will stand on its own, regardless of any unfortunate experience I may have stumbled upon.

Now he can only hope the public shares that ability to separate the man from the art--or, even better, a short memory.