Jay & Bey's No Good Very Bad PR Day

Read time: 6 minutes.

I don't know about the other 98 problems, but... at a minimum, it must have been kinda awkward in that limo ride to the Mufasa: The Lion King premiere.

The evening before, Jay-Z had posted to his Roc Nation X (formerly Twitter) account a strident and seemingly self-penned response to being named earlier that very Sunday in the lawsuit alleging underage rape that had already ensnared his old friend and colleague Sean Combs.

A lot to process, and I want to delve deeper into this response. But first, it should be acknowledged that there is obviously a lot we don’t know — including much we may never know.

But there is no doubt we are witnessing a crisis comms case study about as high-profile — and high-stakes — as it gets. Hence, there are surely some teachable moments for anyone navigating what I have termed the New Dismantling era (as covered here and continued in part 2).

With his statement, Jay-Z was widely praised among the PR community on two scores:

1. Responding fast

2. Being authentic

On the whole, I agree. The sense that Jay-Z stepped directly over the virtual velvet rope that normally separates him from the masses, and spoke out relatively unfiltered for all to hear, was refreshing.

(And if Mr. Carter did have lawyers and PR people vet or help compose the missive, it certainly didn’t read that way. His voice and convictions were not sanded down to the standard-issue slick gloss.)

No question about it, the move commanded our attention, breaking through like a lightening bolt. Mr. Carter has an impactful voice when he elects to use it. Most significantly, he pulled us into a story — and no one can deny that he is a gifted storyteller, especially adept at mythologizing himself.

In this PR freestyle performance of a sort, Tony Buzbee was painted as the villain: a craven, corrupt lawyer targeting a devoted family man who has already battled substantial adversity to transcend the sort of predatory, cutthroat underworld the likes of Buzbee, as depicted, represents.

It will be difficult for Buzbee to battle back against that characterization, now resonating at Jay-Z scale, regardless of its beneath-the-surface accuracy. Did Mr. Carter go too far in that direction? The PR community consensus is yes. My take? Stay tuned for some final thoughts below. But everyone agrees that it was smart to keep the focus off the alleged victim.

Now, given that Disney was expecting the Carter family before the cameras in 24 hours or so, I’m not sure the quick response was a choice as much as an imperative. But perception being just about everything at this stage, the statement read as impromptu while taking command of the news cycle, even if Carter and company had to be aware for quite a while that Mr. Buzbee was circling with potential litigation and the story could break open.

In fact, some of the response’s flaws are strengths in terms of conveying authenticity. Jay-Z wrote, for example:

While I can’t be sure, my guess is that he meant to write “fake psychics” — impugning the increasingly influential online detractors and muckrakers (that “network of conspiracy theorists”) I have broadly termed insurgent dismantlers:

“Incredibly, we’ve seen once marginal voices — previously powerless to challenge wealth and celebrity — taking down multiple blue chip bold name Goliaths. And the phenomenon continues to snowball.”

Now, in terms of attack tactics, it makes sense to paint his detractors as crazy, absurd, fake, idiotic, laughable, etc.

But anyone who thinks all of those content creators will not be believed is kidding themselves. Let’s refresh our memories with another public statement posted to social media a little over a year ago:

So here’s my hunch: the broader Jay-Z strategy may look smart right now, but it’s not going to hold up down the line. On its own, the recent response is aligned to the “new standards for credibility and authenticity” that this era compels, but it’s likely too little too late given what that aforementioned Fox story called Jay-Z and Beyonce’s longstanding “wall of secrecy” strategy.

Now, in addition to Jay and Bey intriguing-it-up in better days, we also know that the world’s top crisis comms PR experts were advising everyone in the Combs orbit to lay low in the wake of his bust.

Now, I can’t really claim otherwise in this case. Again: too much we don’t know. Given the cards they hold, maybe such tactics were the best moves for the Carters?

And based on this report alone, there definitely could be plates spinning behind-the-scenes that are way too Game of Thrones-style for yours truly:

But let’s imagine a hypothetical scenario whereby the Carters — having no problematic conflicts, vulnerabilities, or liabilities — asked for my humble input back when.

I would have told them go the exact opposite route as the experts. I would have urged them to wade straight out into the YouTube, Instagram, TikTok, podcast waters where the insurgent detractors are swimming — the smaller the platform, the better (not like it’s going to stay small for long once they show up), encouraging them to practice radical accessibility and authenticity.

Come down from the distant star stratosphere. Engage and disarm.

Would that process have been entirely care-free and comfortable? Probably not.

But could it have ended up worse — in our hypothetical reality — than where they’ve landed now? (Their lawyer is out publicly claiming Jay-Z and Combs were never actually close friends. Needless to say, the internet is having a field day with that one, dropping receipts left and right. Authentic and accessible? Mmmmm.)

Putting hypothetical musings aside, here are some practical takeaways for everyone back here on planet Press Hook:

For now, stay tuned. This is one crisis comms case study that remains very far from case closed.