How to handle a scandal

So you are a celebrity caught up in a scandal and you want to wriggle out of it, what you do?

Many celebrities in Nigerian make many mistakes when they are trying to get out of a messy scandal. They say too much, do too much and are generally clueless on how to get themselves out of that situation.

Unfortunately the PR people around them don’t have a clue either. Most PR people in the entertainment business can only boast of having hundreds of email addresses and nothing else. They don’t know what to do when a scandal happens. They have no idea what crisis management is.

Scandals are meant to happen. There is hardly any celebrity in this world that hasn't been through a scandal or is about to go through a scandal. It is bound to happen. What really matters is how it is handled. Below are basic steps on how to deal with a scandal when it comes knocking.

The first thing you have to do is assess the situation. When you see a negative news story about you assess the first situation. You should not panic. Assess the situation thoroughly and determine if it can damage your career or not. The severity of the story should determine your next line of action. If it is some gossip or gist don’t bother to respond. However if the story is really serious then you have to respond.

The next step is to take a line of action and the best thing is to release a convincing and firm statement. This is where the expertise of your PR person comes to play. He or she has to write the statement that basically shreds the story against you into pieces. It should be bold and convincing.

Many Nigerian celebrities just rant on Instagram or Twitter. This comes off as a move of desperation. The better option is to release a proper statement that doesn’t smell of desperation. The statement should be released on social media and sent to traditional media also.

After making a statement please keep quiet! Don’t say anything again. Don’t refer to the story again on your social media accounts. Don’t throw subs or make rants just keep quiet. Your silence will be seen as a sign of confidence and not fear.

Lastly let your PR team do its work. Whatever the bad story about you that has been posted it is their job to discredit and make everyone forget about it. They should go behind the lines and make the story appear false and discredit whoever published it.

If all these steps are taken then the scandal would have faded away from people’s memories. Most scandals do not last long anyway. Before you know it another scandal is at the forefront.

Imagine Wizkid taking these steps when Linda Ikeji posted the infamous quit notice story about him. We won’t be even talking about it right now. People would have forgotten about him.

So to all the celebrities who are about to be caught in some mess these steps are for you.