8.21.11 Adam News & Info

Q3and NoAngel, love your letters. I am too a little confused by your line about Hicklin being up to his old tricks. ???

The post that Lulu brought over from the "insider" at ontd_ai covers much of what I was going to say. As a magazine editor, I can tell you, that sounds much more consistent with the way things are done. A few details about how things work:

• All covers/interviews are negotiated between a subject and their management (usually PR reps). There are two ways someone can end up on a cover – the PR people pitch their client and convince editors this is an awesome story or the editors decide who they want and approach the subject's PR/management.

• EVERY SINGLE PERSON WITH PR REPRESENTATION WILL HAVE SOME KIND OF REQUEST ABOUT HOW THEY ARE HANDLED. (Even if it's the owner of the corner doughnut store.) Celebrity/politician demands are totally commonplace. JLo is notorious for demanding her entourage of 20+ come to photoshoots, etc.

• The publication is under no obligation to adhere to those requests/demands, but they will not secure the interview if they don't try to at least meet half way.

• PR reps will give talking points [And again, this is a point where professionalism and cooperation benefit everyone – no one wants to piss off a potential contact – editors and producers are a PR person's bread and butter. If they have antagonized over one client, they can kiss all other pitches for that and other clients goodbye ... or, they'll have a very difficult time of it.] In the same vein, if your magazine is a national publication that wants celebs to do major profiles and covers, you do NOT antagonize a company that handles a lot of celebrities. Your publication will garner a reputation for being deceitful and underhanded.

• A PR persons job is to manage their client's image, so of course, they're going to say, "We really want to focus on the album, the music, #message #message #message ..." Again, these are REQUESTS; the writer/editor will usually say, "Sure, but we also want to examine this as well ..." Many interviews (when profiles, and not hard-hitting political cross-examinations) will take the form of a conversation (as we have seen countless times with Adam.) The interviewer has their list of questions, but those are primarily for backup. If a source is chatting away – you let him or her go ... unless they're rambling about completely irrelevant stuff, then you steer the conversation back on topic.

• The point of covers, particularly celebrity covers, is to draw a new audience or to get people to pick up your magazine who never had before, so therefore, I see no problem with people who are not regular readers to give feedback.

• It all comes down to professionalism. What Hicklin did was the height of blindsiding and bullying. It was unconscionable and how he wasn't fired over it, I have NO idea. (Unless he has dirt on the publisher or something.) I am inclined to agree with the ontd_ai "source" that it was a blatant ploy to generate controversy. It was completely fucked up on every level.

And I REALLY hope they groveled to get this second interview with Adam. If he took the high road on this, he truly IS a candidate for sainthood.

Interesting reading about the OUT outrage two years later. At the time it happened I was only a "fan" waiting for the album, not a "BSC fan" searching the internet for any and all information about Adam, so I missed the whole thing.

I am not worried about another sneak attack on Adam by Hinklin or the magazine. After all Adam has done, and the recent recognition he has gotten, it would be not only foolishly self-destructive and undermine their credibility, but it would also seem absurd. Additionally, we know that Adam is more than capable of smacking down his critics (with a smile) when he thinks it is warranted. I think that Adam is in a much more comfortable and secure position within himself, and such an attack might piss him off, but would not cause him to feel hurt or doubt himself.

Adam still has his detractors, but overall, the media has fallen in love with him. They may like to stir the pot to get hits for their site to show their advertisers, but they are unlikely to write something that would cause Adam to shun them in the future. He is too likeable, too beloved by his fans, and too big a media magnet to alienate. IMHO

Personally I think that the bedding is

- hideous
- creepy

*ducks for rotten tomatoes*