"It's Britney.."

Who's Giving Britney More.....

Bad Publicity Moves?






As we all know the former pop princess has been through some traumatic times of late, and continues to struggle with her image. With MTV giving her the opening spot on their awards show recently, the pressure was on Britney to prove she was back and ready for action. Many media outlets and viewers world wide have been skeptical of her attempt to revamp her image. To judge the performance yourself, click here. As a public relations student it is impossible for me to not question who her publicist is, and what went wrong.

Unfortunately for Leslie Sloane-Zelnik, that job rested on her shoulders for some time, until Britney fired her last September. Perhaps that wasn’t the right move for Ms. Spears, who seems to have done nothing but decline in popularity since that time.

Zelnik’s other notorious client is Lindsay Lohan, who has also spent some time in the public eye for not-so-good behavior. Many people claim that Zelnik is a pro at damage control, but when does it stop being control and become total chaos. It has to be brought to attention that there are possible fallacies in the reporting from either her clients to her or from her to the media.

As reported on USmagazine.com in March 10, 2006 Zelnik claimed for weeks that the buzz about Britney’s pregnancy was definitely false, but then stated, “As far as I am aware, she is not pregnant.” Perhaps this had a part in the fallout between Zelnik and her client, and eventually contributed to the collapse of Britney as a notable public icon.

Again on June 19, 2006 another public Britney debacle took place when she broke down in the middle of a Dateline interview with Matt Lauer. According to defamer.com Zelnik did not attend, and if you watched the interview it was apparent that she was needed on the set. With her hair a complete mess, eyes filled with tears that eventually forced her false eyelashes off at one point, it was clear she had hit rock bottom.

"Britney is a grown-up and she makes her own decisions.”

- Zelnik's response when asked why she wasn't present at the interview.

Somewhere between this incident and the birth of her second son, Sutton Pearce, on September 12, 2006 Britney fired Zelnik. There were many reports that speculated the star was negotiating with various magazines for the first candid snapshots of the new addition to the Spears-Federline family.

I personally believe the events that have taken place in Britney's life over the past year certainly show the importance of Public Relations professionals in today’s society. From pop princess to mad mother, Britney Spears is heeding the backlash of firing perhaps the most important person in her life.

By:Leilani Eyster