Public Relations Scandal 101

Kim Cameron
9/14/07

Public Relations Scandal 101



Disgraced High School Musical star Vanessa Hudgens pulled out of her appearance on Thursday night's The Tonight Show in the wake of her nude-photo scandal.


The pretty teenager hit the headlines after confirming she posed for saucy snapshots intended only for the eyes of boyfriend and HSM costar Zac Efron.



The camera-phone pictures fell into the hands of a third party, which went public with the sexy images, placing them on select Web sites.



In a statement released last week, the actress said, "I am embarrassed over this situation and regret having ever taken these photos. I am thankful for the support of my family and friends."



But she no longer wants to talk about the controversy and pulled out of her appearance on The Tonight Show on Thursday afternoon.


E! News featured the star’s fans giving their take on whether this controversy would ruin the clean image of the star. The answers were split with some saying she would lose the respect of her young fans and their parents while others stated that this would make her more human and raise her status in the entertainment world.

Like myself, I know many of us are considering entering the entertainment field of public relations and I can’t help but think what I would have advised Vanessa to do.

First off I think that she should not have canceled her appearance on The Tonight Show because America loves nothing more than a humbled star facing the music so to speak. I think she could have handled it gracefully and people would look favorably towards her especially considering she is young.

I also think putting out an apology statement as fast as possible instead of saying “no comment” was a wise move and allowed Disney to stand behind her confidently saying they “believe she has learned her lesson”.

Recently, Vanessa was also conveniently snapped leaving a church with her family, public relations strategy or coincidence, either way it shows her repenting and looking for forgiveness and its exactly what she needs right now.

On the other hand, I realize that Vanessa will eventually want to shed her squeaky clean image as most young child stars do, and when that time comes those pictures will definitely come into play, but for now I think the best public relations strategy would be to move forward, regain her status as teen star and when asked about the scandal, be honest and regretful.