Diddy's reputation is so toxic nowadays, no one in Hollywood wants to be associated with him -- and any celebs linked to his parties or allegations will likely pay up to avoid being named in a lawsuit ... so says an expert in crisis public relations.
Category
✨
PeopleTranscript
00:00This is the type of indictment you would expect from someone in the mafia.
00:03I don't know that I could keep him off the stand.
00:05He is very eager to tell his story.
00:08They're going to show that video over and over and over
00:11about what happens to women that won't change their stories.
00:15His reputation is over.
00:17The United States government, they start making this case
00:20as a takedown of a successful black man.
00:24TMZ presents The Downfall of Diddy, The Indictment, now streaming on Tubi.
00:30The Downfall of Diddy
00:32These demand letters are not unique to Diddy.
00:35This has been going on for a long time, right?
00:37This is part of a strategy and there's clearly a PR
00:40and a communications way of going about this
00:44that's tied into what they want to be both the legal and the financial outcome.
00:49So it's not an accident.
00:50And I agree with the assertion that the time for leverage
00:55is before the unnamed celebrities are outed
00:58or their names become public, even if they're just allegations.
01:02So it seems pretty clear to me that this whole rollout
01:08of the press strategy is meant to support
01:10and they're using the media as a tool
01:14and seizing on the fact that the allegations
01:16are so incredibly salacious and disturbing.
01:20And it's a lot to take in.
01:22Let's just say, you know, you received the letter
01:24but then the lawsuit comes out and it's still anonymous.
01:28You're named as Celebrity 1 or Celebrity 2.
01:31What's your response at this point?
01:33The best possible outcome is to avoid being named
01:38and to avoid having your brand connected with P Diddy's
01:41because his at this point is completely toxic.
01:44I don't think there's any scenario under the sun
01:48under which he comes back from this.
01:50So if you have the opportunity to settle this
01:52and to keep your name out of the headlines,
01:55that would be the course that I would advise
01:57and I think most celebrity clients would prefer.
02:00It's a money game when it comes to civil
02:03and that's why the plaintiff's lawyers are saying,
02:07hey, you settle now or we'll litigate later.
02:11And I mean, it's pretty simple
02:14what the celebrity is going to do, right?
02:15Absolutely.
02:16It's reputational dynamite.
02:18You talk about whatever sort of goodwill
02:21you've built up from the public,
02:22whatever your brand equity is,
02:25just being blown to bits
02:27just in the release of your name as it relates to this.
02:31So this is undoubtedly an attempt
02:34by the lawyers on the plaintiff's side
02:36to try to get a settlement for their clients.
02:39And one of the things that I think we're seeing
02:41as a by-product of everything involving Diddy
02:44is you have allegations coming out of the woodwork
02:47against a whole range of celebs at this point.
02:51Many of which are trying to tie the target of their lawsuit
02:56to the behavior of Diddy,
02:57which I think there's a fundamental difference
03:00between someone who's been indicted on multiple counts
03:03and is currently being imprisoned
03:05versus someone for whom there's just an allegation.
03:08But again, you do not want your name,
03:10you do not want your brand connected to this
03:13in any way, shape or form.
03:15And if there's an exit ramp that involves writing a check,
03:18you can rest assured a lot of people
03:20are gonna choose that route.
03:21It must panic a lot of people in Hollywood
03:25that they may play these videos in open court.
03:29And even if a celebrity isn't engaging
03:33in the misconduct that they're alleging against Diddy,
03:36just being there in the middle of what they're seeing-
03:40Talk about collateral damage.
03:41Yeah, it's gonna be devastating.
03:44When you're talking about allegations
03:46involving drugging and raping men and women,
03:51this is the most toxic stuff imaginable.
03:54And so I'm not surprised
03:56that no one wants to be connected to this.
03:58I think we have not yet seen the other shoe drop.
04:02My prediction is you're gonna see a lot of celebrities
04:06who even though they're doing the best that they can
04:08to avoid this topic,
04:10ultimately there are gonna be other people named
04:13even if they just were there, present,
04:16not necessarily that they engaged
04:18in any alleged conversation or the alleged actions.
04:22Just wait.
04:23There's gonna be a lot more to come on this topic.
04:25You guys are gonna be very busy for a long time, I suspect.