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PR Disaster Continues for Two-Time Oscar Winner

Nov 4, 2011  •  Post A Comment

The PR disaster continues for a two-time Oscar-winning actress who has been dealing with a flood of negative fallout stemming from an appearance last month in Chechnya.

In the latest development, Hilary Swank has reportedly been dumped by her PR team at 42West, according to Entertainment Weekly.

The firestorm followed an appearance, on Oct. 5, 2011, by Swank at a birthday party for Chechnya’s president, Ramzan Kadyrov, where Jean-Claude Van Damme and Seal were also on the bill. In the month since the event, Swank has been busy apologizing and explaining that she didn’t know Kadyrov has been accused of widespread human rights violations including the abduction, torture and killing of his political opponents.

Swank reportedly recently fired her manager of eight years, Jason Weinberg, along with two of his CAA associates. She has said she would donate her fee from the event to charity.

According to the EW article the PR team at 42West "parted ways with Swank over a disagreement on how best to deal with the fallout from the Oct. 5 event."

Swank, who won Oscars for “Boys Don’t Cry” and “Million Dollar Baby,” has indicated she thought the event was to dedicate a recently rebuilt commercial district in the Chechnyan capital of Grozny.

The New York Daily News reported that Swank released a statement earlier in which she said: "I deeply regret attending this event, which has thrown into question my long and deeply held commitment to the protection of human rights."

The actress also said: “If I had a full understanding of what this event was apparently intended to be, I would never have gone."

2 Comments

  1. Geez, she said she was sorry. It’s not like we expect stars to avoid stupid mistakes. Her denial is plausible, so move along and forgive her.

  2. A “PR Disaster”?
    It’s not like this is a national news story (hello Herman Cain) or Ms. Swank is at risk of being thrown in jail (hello Lindsay Lohan). THOSE are PR “disasters”.
    It seems she was right to fire her CAA team (for getting her into this mess in the first place), and if she isn’t following whatever suggestions her PR firm is giving her, they have the right to drop her as a client (though it seems a PR-generating move on behalf of the agency).
    It sounds like she’s doing what she needs to do to put this past her and move on. Don’t we have more important news — even more important entertainment news — to focus on?

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