Home Crisis PR Crisis Public Relations: Plan Ahead – Implications of Drake-Chris Brown Brawl

Crisis Public Relations: Plan Ahead – Implications of Drake-Chris Brown Brawl

June 19, 2012

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“It takes twenty years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it. If you think about that, you’ll do things differently.” Warren Buffett, investor

I‘d imagine that owning a nightclub is no easy task – Dealing with late night hours, temperamental patrons, weather conditions, people with alcohol and the inevitable byproducts of such behavior. In the wake of the high-profile brawl between Chris Brown and Drake this week at a NYC nightclub which sent patrons to the hospital, saw the nightclub shuttered and police investigations, one wonders if there was any crisis preparations’ by the club in question.

Owning a nightclub one has to understand that there will be disputes, rowdiness and the inevitable foolishness, but from a public relations perspective a proper business of any sort is prepared for the crisis by thinking about all the possibilities before they happen. A crisis plan should be in place – being prepared counts.

This nightclub recently changed ownership and one wonders if they had proper security arrangements in place. Having worked extensively with celebrities, why were these celebrities seated so close to one another if they had previous (well-known) history? These people don’t just show up at the door – problems should be diffused as catering to a celebrity crowd is different than catering to average Joes.

The venue didn’t have pre-existing close relations with the NYPD (as they should have), nor have they yet issued a statement – and one wonders why a multi-million dollar venue wouldn’t have a crisis PR firm on retainer ? This was a very unfortunate situation – yet perhaps a crisis which could have been avoided – and certainly curtailed if ownership paid attention and did what has to be done. This incident is bad for Drake, Chris Brown, the entertainment industry, and the entire city of New York.

Ronn Torossian is the CEO of 5WPR, a leading PR firm, and Author of PR Book “For Immediate Release.”