Crises are unavoidable and in some cases unpredictable - a PR professional's biggest affliction.
There's no predicting the moment a CEO, president, or public figure is going to insert their foot into their own mouth, which means they have to conduct personal PR to save themselves from a disaster.
However, even this can be too much for some people to handle.
Cue: Neil Portnow.
Right now in the midst of the "Time's Up" movement that stemmed from the sexual harassment and assault allegations in Hollywood, Recording Academy President Neil Portnow said the unthinkable. After audience backlash regarding the overwhelmingly male dominated 2018 Grammys, Portnow made a statement saying, "I think it has to begin with women who have the creativity in their hearts and their souls — who want to be musicians, who want to be engineers, who want to be producers, who want to be part of the industry on an executive level — to step up, because I think they would be welcome."
Yikes.
Step up? Is that really the best choice of words to use when addressing a gender that is still fighting for equality?
Absolutely not.
The statement was made because there was only one female winner of the Grammys this year, which was Alessia Cara, and fans had an issue with this. However, the last thing Portnow should have ever said is "step up."
Unfortunately for him, his words didn't go unnoticed. Celebrities and fans alike took to social media to voice their disgust with the statement.
P!nk responded with, perhaps, the best rebuttal possible:
A great line from this is "women have been stepping up since the beginning of time."
Truth.
For a male figure to have the audacity to tell women to step up if they want to be recognized is absurd. Even if it's "not what he meant" - it doesn't matter - he never should have said it.
In response to the backlash from his previous statement, Portnow said, "Regrettably, I used two words, 'step up,' that, when taken out of context, do not convey my beliefs and the point I was trying to make." Adding, "I regret that I wasn't as articulate as I should have been in conveying this thought. I remain committed to doing everything I can to make our music community a better, safer, and more representative place for everyone."
Yes it was just one statement, but this is the straw that broke the camel's back. Women have had it. There is no room for error in this climate and people are already calling for Portnow to step down from his position. So many in fact that a petition for him to step down has received almost 10,000 signatures.
This is not only bad for Neil Portnow, but also for the Grammys.
If there's anything we can learn from this turn of events, it's think before you speak; and if you're not sure, don't say it. In the meantime, the Grammys' PR team is going to have their jobs cut out for them with this one.
Sources
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/30/arts/music/grammys-step-up-neil-portnow-backlash.html
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/la-et-entertainment-news-updates-2018-recording-academy-president-claims-1517326573-htmlstory.html
https://www.usmagazine.com/entertainment/news/kelly-clarkson-responds-to-grammys-presidents-step-up-comment/
https://www.billboard.com/articles/news/grammys/8097201/recording-academy-ceo-portnow-responds-step-up-backlash