Good PR? Has Carolina Panthers star Cam Newton mended his ways? Newton, who seemed to diss female sportswriter Jourdan Rodrigue for knowing a bit about football Oct. 4 and lost Dannon as a sponsor in the process, apologized the next day. On Oct. 8 he sported a feminist pin in the brim of his fedora as he arrived at Ford Field in Detroit for that day’s game. Post-game Newton explained his comment to Rodrigue was meant as a compliment. “It was a lesson learned for me this whole week,’’ Newton said, via ESPN.com. “My sarcasm trying to give somebody kind of a compliment turned in ways I never would have even imagined.” Newton’s locker room meltdown after Super Bowl 50 brought him to our pages (PRN, Feb. 15, 2016). – At our press time ESPN said it had suspended anchor Jemele Hill two weeks for “a second violation of our social media guidelines.” Hill’s transgression: tweeting that Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones created a “problem” for his players, “specifically the black ones,” when he said any player who “disrespects the flag” during the national anthem will not play. Hill made headlines weeks ago for tweeting that President Trump is “a white supremacist.” She eventually apologized for that tweet.
Growth and Financial: Association and nonprofit communicator David James Group acquired Blue Water Communications, which serves museum, architecture, performing arts and destination clients. Blue Water will continue to do business under its current brand name. – Tech PR and marketing specialist Karbo Communications of San Francisco said today it would open an office in Redwood City. – A trio of PR veterans has founded The Cannabis Story Lab, dedicated to providing PR services to the legal cannabis market, which is expected to exceed $24 billion by 2025. The founders are: Celeste Miranda, John Sidline and Karen Blondell. – Luxury and lifestyle travel PR specialist The Brandman Agency last week raised the curtain on a new website and a rebrand.
People: Marriott International named Andy Kauffman SVP for global marketing optimization, effective Jan. 1, 2018. – Congrats to PR News fave Brandi Boatner (picture 3, p. 1) on her promotion to social and influencer communications lead, global markets, at IBM. – Kudos also to PR News friend Kevin Dando, named chief marketing officer at Kanopy, the on-demand video streaming service that offers films to students and library patrons. Previously Dando was with PBS, most recently as senior director of social media strategy and digital communications. – Online roommate-matching service Silvernest named Barbara O’Connor chief marketing officer. O’Connor spent more than a decade at Yahoo! as well as time at Apple. – WE Communications relocated EVP Bill Schultz to its NY office from the Pacific Northwest to bolster its presence. – The restaurateur Anne Le Ziblatt joined Andrew Freeman & Company as a partner. – Search firm PR Talent tapped Kathleen DesRosiers to lead its eighth office, in Minneapolis-St. Paul. She started her career at FleishmanHillard and later joined Burson-Marsteller. – Marisa Lichtenstein joined digital communications agency Lumentus as senior director, client relationships. Lichtenstein was VP at Image Media.