The PR Breakdown with Molly McPherson

281: Scandal, Power, and Abuse: RFK Jr., Sean Combs, and Muhammad Al-Fayed

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What happens when high-profile figures like RFK Jr., Sean Combs, and Muhammad Al-Fayed find themselves at the center of public scandals? This episode unpacks the unsettling truths behind RFK Jr.'s sexting affair with political reporter Olivia Nuzzi, exploring how his wife Cheryl Hines' glamorous appearance at Milan Fashion Week might be a strategic distraction. We delve into the ethical implications of such behavior and the vital role transparency and accountability play in maintaining public trust.

We also turn our attention to Muhammad Al-Fayed and the accusations of abuse linked to his time as the owner of Harrods. By drawing comparisons to notorious figures like Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein, we highlight the systemic abuse of power and the resultant legal and personal crises. Wrapping up, we provide essential lessons in reputation management, offering practical strategies to navigate similar PR challenges while stressing the importance of staying genuine and thoughtful. Whether you're in the PR industry or just intrigued by the complex lives of the powerful, this episode is packed with insights you won’t want to miss.

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© 2024 The PR Breakdown with Molly McPherson

Episode 281: The Fall of the Untouchable: Power, Downfalls, and the Lessons from RFK Jr., Diddy, and Mohamed Al Fayed

[00:00:00] Molly: This episode hits on a theme that we've seen a number of times. And time again, powerful men brought down by their own actions.

[00:00:08] We've got three men, RFK Jr., Sean Combs, and Mohammed Al Fayed, who are no strangers to the spotlight. But in 2024, it's a different kind of attention. We're seeing scandals, allegations, and outright collapses of their public personas. In the case of Al Fayed, it's now his legacy. And here is the kicker of it all.

[00:00:30] All of them are tied to one common thread, and that's the abuse of power. If you know me, as a PR professional, my mind goes straight to the lessons. What can we extract from these stories or from the headlines to use in our work? This isn't just about personal downfalls. It's about the communication breakdown.

[00:00:51] That happens when powerful people fail to recognize that transparency, accountability, and ethical behavior aren't just nice to haves, they are essential to surviving in today's public arena.

[00:01:04] Let's break these guys down one by one. 

[00:01:07] The first one, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. He, of course, is the son of Robert F. Kennedy, the brother of President John F. Kennedy. He's embroiled in a scandal involving a political reporter with whom he was having a sexting affair. RFK Jr. allegedly bragged about possessing intimate photos of the reporter Olivia Knutse 

[00:01:28] nutzi is now on leave for the magazine that she was writing for. It was a profile on RFK Jr. It was New York Magazine. She acknowledged that she had a personal but not physical relationship with the former presidential candidate while reporting on his candidacy.

[00:01:48] The editor of New York Magazine, David Haskell, put out a memo to his staff last week. He didn't name Kennedy in the memo, but he did indicate that the reporter's relationship was with someone she profiled in November 2023.

[00:02:04] That month, the article about Kennedy was Knutzy's only article. And Haskell added in the memo that the incident created the appearance of conflict, as well as, love this line, a cloud of distraction over the magazine, just weeks before the election. And it should come to no surprise that cloud of distraction found its way to Milan.

[00:02:27] Whether or not Cheryl Hines, the wife of RFK Jr., created the distraction in Milan on her own accord, or if it was part of a bigger play in cooperation with her husband, because after all, his daughter, Kik, her stepdaughter, accompanied her on that trip.

[00:02:47] I mentioned Kit Kennedy recently because that was the name that was associated with Ben Affleck. , as the buzz around his divorce to Jennifer Lopez, started to,, make a lot of headlines. Just out of the blue, the Kennedys starting to make PR plays and moves. Now, could they all be a bigger part of a distraction strategy? The relationship between the reporter and the former political candidate was confirmed on both sides. Well, sort of. A spokesperson for Kennedy said Mr. Kennedy only met with Olivia Knutzy once in his life for an interview she requested, which yielded a hit piece. that hit piece was called the mind bending politics of RFK Jr's spoiler campaign. I don't know if that Headlines sounds like much of a hit piece, but oh, well, one will wordplay when they can in the middle of a crisis.

[00:03:44] Cheryl Hines, if you're not familiar with the name or somewhat familiar, the name, she played Larry David's wife on Curb Your Enthusiasm. She's not a well known actress. I really call her at most C list, but because she was in a program, With Larry David, who is such a big name because he's associated with Jerry Seinfeld, but Cheryl, I mean, I have nothing against her, but if you watch that, she's not a very strong character, you know, in that show, but you would never guess that if you watch the video, I'll include a link in the show notes of Cheryl.

[00:04:17] Working her way to her car in the mob, you know, in that paparazzi mob that I talked about at the beginning of the podcast. She's definitely taking her time. She's enjoying all the attention. She's signing autographs. She has a bodyguard with her who is guiding her to her car, , so she definitely got her moment, you know, her 15 minutes or her 1 minute and 14 seconds of that, , clip. But she is doing things behind the scenes. According to the New York Post, page 6, a source close to Hines said that she is fuming behind the scenes.

[00:04:52] The source said, who knows the couple, that Hines is no pushover at home and has a backbone. So it'll be interesting to see what happens here. When she married RFK Jr, I thought, why on earth, , would you want to marry someone who is so known for strain in his marriage, 

[00:05:12] and one of the reasons where they're claiming is because of. RFK Jr. 's, , long list of mistresses, as a matter of fact, the New York Post also quoted someone saying in his phone, like he had a list of something like 42 mistresses and he gave them code names. So she absolutely knew what she was getting into. So maybe she thought this is the price I'll pay to be a part of a famous American political family. But RFK Jr., he's a little off course. The path. Now 

[00:05:43] he had an affair problem. According to Dr. Kathy Nickerson, she's a mutual of mine on TikTok. She talks about affairs and how to help people through them. She noted that most people who cheat will only have one affair. It's in sharp contrast to this popular notion that once a cheater, always a cheater. Her research found that 60 percent of strain partners reported having one affair, and 40 percent of respondents had two or more affairs. But for the most, and affairs are very personal, and it's, percentage is just one time. But when you get into the world of RFK, you can just assume Al Fayed and Combs, but that's not really the focus of their stories., 

[00:06:25] third gen Kennedy kids, these would be the grandkids of RFK. There's a lot of messiness. that made scandals headlines. RFK junior is definitely a part of all of it. And most people who know him now, he's broadly known as this anti vaccine conspiracy theorist.

[00:06:47] And a lot of stories about him are awful, . Part of it, we could understand, , at the age that he was when his father was assassinated. , there's been a lot of troubles there. So Cheryl Hines, though, definitely knew what she was getting into. But for Kennedy, despite his political aspirations, his personal life and public statements continue to generate, the scrutiny in large part because of behavior Traits.

[00:07:13] Let's continue that through line. 

[00:07:15] Next up we have Sean Combs, also known as Diddy, also known as inmate 37452 054 in the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn. That reminds me of Jean Valjean, prisoner 24601. So Sean Combs, Back to serious news is facing serious charges. Including sex trafficking, racketeering, all linked to orchestrated sex parties known as freak offs.

[00:07:46] The federal indictment accuses him of coercing participants with allegations of drug fueled abusive encounters that were filmed and used as blackmail. , 

[00:07:56] I mean, there's so much mystery surrounding anyone who has a relationship with Combs, including Jennifer Lopez. Now, Jennifer Lopez, back in the 90s, remember the Versace dress era, the green dress? She dated Sean Combs. She was the one who was in the nightclub when there was a shooting. And it was alleged that she held the gun in her purse, but also that her, allegedly, that her prints were on that gun.

[00:08:25] So the people who align themselves with Combs find themselves entangled with him as well. This case is ongoing and the government, I mean, if you read that indictment, they've gathered extensive evidence. There are videos, there's witness testimonies, and we really don't know yet who they're from. But they're asking, even in the public statement, for anyone who's been involved with him or , was a victim of him to come forward.

[00:08:53] Now there is significant PR fallout. A number of crisis PR firms are distancing themselves from him. He's reaching out to so many firms. Not me! By the way, not that I would ever, ever, ever represent him, but his longtime publicist resigned because of his mounting legal troubles. With so many firms declining to represent him, , citing his reputation and, you know, the severity of these charges, it will be interesting to see how he manages it on his own.

[00:09:20] You have to think, , how did he do it? If you were to read that indictment or the statement from the, U. S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District Court of New York, there was a part of it that I pulled out.

[00:09:32] It provides a clue. Quote, to ensure participation and freak offs Combs used violence and intimidation and leveraged his power over victims. Power he obtained through obtaining and distributing narcotics to them, exploiting his financial support to them, and threatening to cut off the same and controlling their careers.

[00:09:54] He was at the top of a criminal enterprise supported by. abusive manipulation tactics. He threatened victims. He threatened to expose and embarrass victims with sensitive recordings that he made in these freak offs. If the women didn't comply, there was the implied threat.

[00:10:12] But also there is a lot of buzz out there that a lot of celebrities, a lot of names are associated with Combs. Now I've seen a number of , TikToks claiming a bunch of names. I'm not gonna name them all because it's alleged right now, but some people have spoken out. 50 Cent, that would be Curtis Jackson.

[00:10:29] He's a longtime rival of Diddy, and I know this because my son Connor has given me the primer on all of this. , in the rap world, he has been vocal about, , about, uh, Sean Combs , as have other singers. , members of a group that he managed, Danny D. K. came out against him, the singer Kesha, there's Shine, who took the hit for him in the shooting in the club with Jennifer Lopez, and Mary J. Blige those people all. are joining like this growing chorus of people who are really speaking out about Combs.

[00:11:03] Some are more cryptic, but as the case against him gets stronger and stronger, look for more people to come out. Now, there's a lot of people who are also very, very quiet. The people associated with Sean Combs, Jennifer Lopez being one of them. On my Patreon last week, we had a live with the, , with the Patreon community.

[00:11:22] And we were talking about combs. This was early last week when all the reports came out about his arrest. And when I was on the live, I said, let's go to Jennifer Lopez's Instagram. Let's see what she has to say. Cause we know publicly, she's not saying anything on Instagram. The first photo that we see, which is the last photo in her feet, it appears that she's in her closet and behind her.

[00:11:45] Shelves lined with purses, expensive purses. Someone on the live pointed out that could be a very subtle nod to Combs because Jennifer Lopez. had the gun in her purse. So maybe the purse was a signal to tell Combs that she'll be quiet, that she was quiet back then and she would do the same now.

[00:12:10] Who knows? , that's my mind spinning and my community and Patreon spinning as well. , but it was certainly something to think about and talk about and boy, did we love it. So if you want to join me on those lives, head over to my Patreon, patreon. com at Molly McPherson. These are great lives, but we also talked about other people.

[00:12:26] Jay Z. We don't hear a lot about him, but we're going to be seeing, , Beyonce making PR moves as a distraction measure. Also, Ashton Kutcher, Justin Bieber Leonardo DiCaprio, the Kardashians longtime confidant.

[00:12:43] The model Naomi Campbell. There's a lot of names associated him and people are liking it to the Epstein, the Jeffrey Epstein case as well. This is gonna be very difficult for him to fight, but we should watch. Who is saying what, and who isn't. 

[00:12:58] And finally, there's Muhammad Al Fayed. This story broke when a BBC documentary revealed decades of sexual abuse, and over 150 survivors have now come forward against Al Fayed.

[00:13:12] He was a billionaire who owned Harrods, one of the most iconic luxury department stores in the world. He was also the father to Dodi Al Fayed, who was According to Muhammad Al fayed, was engaged to Princess Diana, though there hasn't been any evidence supporting that. But they were certainly together in Paris, leaving the Ritz, I believe in Paris.

[00:13:37] They crashed in the tunnel. And of course, 35 Ed was killed instantly. And Princess Diana later died in the hospital for years. Alfied, I would say somewhat leveraged, you know, the sympathy of people in that story.

[00:13:52] And what do you have heavy sympathy like that? Maybe Maybe editorially, people are not as likely to write stories against him. Um, but certainly, the store itself, Harrods, did not say anything while this abuse was going on. Now, even though the store has been under new ownership since 2010, it can't escape the shadow of its former leader's action.

[00:14:16] Because that institution is just as responsible for letting the behavior slide. So it's on Alphayette, but it's also on Harrods, because when a business doesn't take responsibility, the brand suffers and sometimes permanently. So Harrods has a huge problem on its hand.

[00:14:33] Now it's interesting, I posted on TikTok last week, the story, because I didn't know anything about the story. Someone on TikTok or a number of people tagged me on it. So I immediately dove into it. And I said on my post, you can find it in the show notes. I said, I haven't really read much on it, just a BBC article, but let's read the Herod statement together.

[00:14:55] And I read it. In real time. , I said I wanted to watch the BBC documentary, but because I'm in the U. S., I can't watch it. You can only watch it if you're in the U. K. I even tried, you know, to go into YouTube somewhere deep to see if someone posted it, but they didn't. Apparently, it details how Al Fayed used his wealth and power to intimidate, manipulate, and silence his victims, including threats of violence and professional retaliation.

[00:15:19] Does this sound familiar?

[00:15:21] These women were threatened with career destruction. their families to keep them from speaking out. And some of these survivors are saying that the SOAR's management was aware of the misconduct, but failed to act. The current Herod's ownership, they've since implemented a compensation for victims and they are accepting, Some vicarious liability for his actions.

[00:15:46] They acknowledge that there were failures in protecting those employees. Now, on the post, I read that statement, and in the first graph the language was harsh, but the language was also very time centric, as in distancing themselves from Al Fayed., The Harrods of today is much different from the Harrods of the past , we are utterly appalled by the allegations of abuse perpetrated by Mohammed Al Fayed.

[00:16:12] These were actions of an individual who is intent on abusing his power wherever he operated. And we condemn these in the strongest terms. And they acknowledge that what he did during that time with the victims. So it did follow. The indestructible PR framework, own it, explain it, promise it. 

[00:16:31] And something else that I noticed that I liked is they embedded a form, a contact form for people who felt they were victims to reach out to Harrods. I thought this is like a next gen press release.

[00:16:46] However, I did note two things without having any history of the story. I just noticed it from the language in the statement. It was incredibly supportive to victims in the first graph, but then once you got to the bullets in the promise section, that's when the lawyers clearly took over.

[00:17:04] Because people who identify themselves as victims, they would have to have Irrefutable proof that something happened to them to be taken seriously. I mean, the language was written in a way that said, Hey, victim, you are going to have to go through so many hoops, so you better be prepared to come with proof.

[00:17:21] Otherwise, we're not going to take you seriously because the language was pretty harsh. And also, I noticed that there weren't any words about confidentiality. If someone came forward, it took four bullets. We had to get all the way to the fourth one to find anything about confidentiality. They used the words discreetly.

[00:17:38] And sensitively. But what we can see from this story, the accusations painted a picture of systemic abuse at Harrods. With Harrods allegedly complicit in covering up these actions during the ownership.

[00:17:52] Al Fayyad's legacy is now heavily tainted by these allegations, as it should be. And it draws comparisons to the notorious Jeffrey Epstein and also Harvey Weinstein. It makes you think, what is going on here? Why does this keep happening over and over and over? The big idea, it's really how power can be so easily leveraged for the end goal of what these men want, or what these men in powerful position want, or what people in powerful positions wants, and the use of manipulation.

[00:18:26] These three figures share that common theme of using power, influence, and wealth to allegedly manipulate and control others. It resulted in significant personal and legal crises. I mean, from Cheryl Hines being humiliated, but to these victims of Combs and Al Fayyad. It is a common theme of the motivation that Behind these men and the abuse of power and influence all for personal gain at the expense of others, each man in different ways, allegedly exploited their social, financial or political clout to manipulate, control or to harm people, particularly women to fulfill their personal desires or to protect their reputations. 

[00:19:08] That's for the people in the day to day lives, but certainly, you know, It could echo into these people, the celebrities, the people in the news who get caught up in these types of scandals. But the three guys who I'm talking about, their affairs or their abuse is just easily orchestrated because they're in a position of power.

[00:19:31] And it is often men, they manipulate as a form of abuse to achieve their desires and what they want. RfK Jr. leveraged his political and public influence to engage in questionable relationships. He concealed conflicts of interest with reporters, all for the purpose of maintaining that public image. Again, you know, a lot of those Kennedys are known for their sense of entitlement and their willingness to blur professional, political and legal boundaries for the sake of, uh, Their personal gain.

[00:20:07] Sean Combs allegedly used his wealth and fame and influence to orchestrate abusive, coercive encounters. He manipulated those around him to engage in or cover up these freak offs. His power was as a music mogul. It allowed him to control others while his legal team framed his actions as lifestyle choices.

[00:20:31] His lawyer in the initial statements were saying, well, he's not a great guy, but he's not this guy who is being accused of. We haven't heard much from his lawyer, by the way. It's going to be more and more difficult for people to rationalize the behavior of Combs. And then Mohammed El Fayed, where Harrods hid the behavior of their chairman and former owner. He had immense wealth, which meant he had immense control over that powerful institution and its employees. He coerced, intimidated, and sexually exploited women. I mean, to think, to threaten victims with professional ruin, using power to ensure their silence, and maintained this unchallenged dominance.

[00:21:17] It's a through line through all three of these men, and many. That have been ripped from the headlines. I just pointed out these three guys because the news broke all in the same week. 

[00:21:28] What's the communication lesson here? When you have power, whether you're a politician, music mogul or a business Titan, there's an expectation to wield power responsibly. The moment someone uses it to exploit, manipulate, or abuse, they're setting themselves up for an inevitable.

[00:21:47] There was a time, you hear me say this time and time again, that fixers and editors and newspapers and media outlets could cover up stories, usually in exchange for another story. 

[00:22:00] It became a barter, it was very transactional. But because of social media, because of the power shift to the public, and people who spend time on social media, and some people who love nothing more than a great gossip story, or digging into a legal story, it became a barter.

[00:22:16] I'd be one of those people. I love following these stories as well, but I like to follow it also as a communicator because I'm always looking to pull the lessons. So here are three that I think you can use if you're in the business, of any business, really, when it comes down to reputation. What are some takeaways from these stories?

[00:22:33] Well, one, transparency and accountability, they are non negotiable. If you work for a company or you work for a candidate or if you work for someone that is expecting the cover up. Know that you will be dragged into it as well. But people don't forgive a lot nowadays, and they're not going to be forgiving to people who have lied or deceived.

[00:22:56] I mean, just look to social media, go to TikTok and find out what happens when someone's been accused of lying. R. K. Jr. has never been transparent about the depth of his infidelity because he learned it from his father, likely, and his uncle and on plenty of other Kennedys there. It's just the nature of being a Kennedy in so many cases, but boundaries were crossed.

[00:23:18] , eventually the truth does come out. Damage control, especially around infidelity, is harder to not only defend, but to hide. Two, power abuse will always backfire. Almost always.

[00:23:31] And Diddy's case is a perfect example. That guy was powerful. That guy was inoculated. He used his power to manipulate people and people covered it up. And he thought fame and money would protect him from these consequences, probably forever. But what he didn't count on is public opinion. Because in 2024, it's merciless when it comes to exploitation.

[00:23:51] People seek justice, even if they don't know people. His downfall isn't just about criminal allegations. It's about the arrogance of thinking that he was untouchable. Just like Al Fayed, and in this case it was institutional complicity that became the reputation killer nowadays for Harrods. It's a whole different time.

[00:24:12] Al Fayed is dead, yet it's killing the reputation of Harrods. He's long gone, but now Harrods is paying the price for the abuse that happened under Al Fayed's leadership. 

[00:24:23] The lesson here is clear. Companies and institutions must address misconduct swiftly and decisively. Ignoring or covering up abuse doesn't just harm victims, it harms the brands.

[00:24:34] It destroys trust. And if you think that you can intimidate a victim into not coming forward, doesn't mean that you can nuzzle their family members, people who hear about the stories, because people love to go to social media.

[00:24:48] And these stories are not just scandals, they're cautionary tales. It just reminds us that in PR, in current culture, in social media, crisis communication isn't just about spin or damage control.

[00:24:59] Molly: It doesn't work anymore. It's about taking ownership, being honest, and above all, understanding that no matter how powerful you are or think you are, your actions will catch up with you. These three men are learning the lesson the hard way.

[00:25:12] In your organization, if you're faced with the same type of stories and potential scandals, you want to make sure you don't want to repeat the mistakes. Thanks for tuning into the PR Breakdown.

[00:25:21] I hope you found today's episode helpful. I encourage you to share it with your team or colleagues or anyone else navigating the tricky waters of reputation management and maybe they're on the other side of it. So as always, I'm right here, to talk about this PR crisis.

[00:25:40] Until next time, keep it real and keep it accountable. Bye for now. 

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