Sour Notes: Harvey Weinstein, Kevin Spacey, Louis C.K., Matt Lauer, Charlie Rose, Garrison Keillor. Arguably none was bigger in his field than James Levine, who was fired as music director emeritus and artistic director of the young artists program of the Metropolitan Opera at our press time. The firing followed the Met’s investigation of the maestro’s conduct. The specifics of the investigation were not released, although the Met said 70 people were interviewed and that it “uncovered credible evidence” of “abusive conduct toward vulnerable artists in the early stages of their careers, over whom Mr. Levine had authority.” In addition, the investigation, the Met said in a statement, found evidence of abuse and harassment both before and during Levine’s employment at the Met, which lasted some 40 years. We told you about this last year (PRN, Dec. 5, 2017), when a report in the NY Times about a complaint in Illinois forced the Met’s hand during the height of the #MeToo movement. The Met, which essentially halted looking into the Illinois situation, opened an investigation and suspended Levine. The story received scant coverage due to its breaking in the wake of the #MeToo tale of another New Yorker with a surname beginning with the letter L: The Today Show’s Lauer. Rumors of sexual misconduct followed Levine, 74, for years. He vehemently denied them. The Met and Levine also denied allegations in the Times’ article last December about the alleged harassment incident in Illinois in the 1980s. “Unfounded,” Levine said. When pressed, Met GM Peter Gelb admitted he’d asked the maestro about it. When Levine denied the charges that was good enough for Gelb, who essentially closed the case. Later Gelb explained he briefed the Met’s board about the incident but was awaiting further word from police. Eventually, though, the #MeToo outcry led to the Met opening its investigation. As a result of what appears to be its initial inertia regarding Levine’s conduct, the Met now is in the midst of a large PR crisis as well as an existential one. As questions swirl about how much Gelb knew and when, the Met faces the daunting task of raising funds to cover the $300 million annually needed to run the country’s largest performing arts organization. Meanwhile audience members and donors question the integrity of the Met’s GM and its disgraced former star conductor.
News Bits: Bad PR has consequences. A House committee investigating sexual abuse in sports said it has enlarged its remit to include all 48 national governing bodies. Initially it was to probe USA Gymnastics, the U.S. Olympic Committee ( PRN, March 6), USA Swimming, USA Taekwondo and MI State U, where Dr. Larry Nassar’s practice was located. In its March 7 letter the committee wrote, “[We are] concerned that a pervasive and systemic problem exists in Olympic sports. The safety and well-being of all athletes should be the highest priority...” -- Remember the Fyre Festival, where famous influencers promised an exclusive music festival/vacation on a secluded island but it turned out to be an awful place with FEMA tents, cheese sandwiches and no big-time musical acts ( PRN, May 15, 2017)? From a PR point of view organizer Billy McFarland made things worse with a poorly-worded non-apology. Last week in NY McFarland pled guilty to misleading investors. He faces up to 40 years in jail. -- President Trump calls the news media “failing” or “fake,” but brands don’t see TV that way. Ad spending on TV news rose 9% in 2017 to $4.1 billion, Standard Media Index says. Cable news grew the most, with Fox News, CNN and MSNBC each boosting audiences and ad revenue in 2017.
Platform Prater: Facebook said it halted a test program dividing News Feed into posts from brands and those from friends/family. Facebook admitted it hadn’t explained the test well. The company also said it’s removing the Explore tab, which offered users material from sources they didn’t follow. -- As part of its promise to better police its platform, Twitter suspended several accounts for tweetdecking (stealing posts and then mass retweeting them in hopes of getting them to go viral).
Growth: Travel PR firm MMGY Global acquired Hills Balfour of Dubai and London. Grant Thornton and Cavendish Corporate Finance advised. -- Briz Media Group rebranded from dbray Media and touted Connectors, its group of influencers and power players.
People: Scholastic named Stephanie Smirnov EVP/head of global corporate communications. Smirnov’s background includes managing director, brand practice at Edelman and CEO for the U.S. region of DeVries Global. -- Guidemark Health named Michael Parisi CEO. Previously he was managing partner at Ogilvy CommonHealth Worldwide. -- FleishmanHillard named Matt Groch SVP/global lead of data analytics and innovation. His background includes 9 years at Edelman. -- PAN Communications named Racepoint Global’s Adam Cormier VP. -- Agency 451 named Erica Gatlin and Sarah Lapierre leaders of its social influencer marketing group Wildfire. -- Home furnishings specialist Steinreich named veteran trade journalist Larry Thomas its chief of content.