4:34
- ABC News
- December 1, 2017
How men respond to sexual misconduct allegations
Crisis communications experts weigh in on the reaction from accused men.
4:34
Spacey, according to Reber, made the situation worse by making it about himself when he confirmed his sexuality and also failed to fully acknowledge the victim.
The Publicity Agency founder Glenn Selig is a crisis communications expert currently representing Rick Gates, who recently plead not guilty on charges stemming from special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
Selig called Spacey’s statement “one of the worst PR mistakes ever” as it appeared to conflate his sexuality with the allegations against him.
Spacey’s statement could have been a tactic of deflection, according to Selig, who added that Weinstein appeared to use the same tactic in his initial statement.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/Entertainment/harvey-weinstein-01-as-gty-171201_4x3t_384.jpg\")
“I am going to need a place to channel that anger, so I’ve decided that I’m going to give the NRA my full attention,” Weinstein, who has denied allegations of sexual misconduct, wrote, in part, in an October statement issued after a New York Times report that cited multiple allegations of sexual misconduct against the movie producer.
Weinstein went on to note in his statement that he had been working on \"organizing a $5 million foundation to give scholarships to women directors at USC\" to be named after his mom.
“Harvey was the first and maybe he thought that tactic might be effective. It obviously wasn’t,” Selig said of Weinstein, who was later fired by his namesake production company. “You have to know what’s coming out at you and what’s going to become public.”
One factor high-profile figures should use in deciding how to respond to allegations is understanding people's perception of them in the world and whether they stand a chance in fighting the allegations, experts say.
\"It's to be expected [the statements] are different when you’re talking about people because they are all public personas and each one has a pre-existing reputation and the way the public sees them,\" Reber said. \"The tone of the statement has to reflect that public persona and that’s very different for Lauer versus Halperin versus Weinstein.\"
Please read my statement below. pic.twitter.com/8ld8k8DC6O
— Mark Halperin (@MarkHalperin) October 27, 2017
The majority of statements issued in recent weeks from men accused of sexual misconduct share one thing in common, experts say: they use \"yes, but\" -- clauses that may reflect their beliefs, but also may have been designed to protect them from legal exposure and may leave their statement appearing insincere.
\"In a general sense, there seems to be an admission there was wrongdoing that happened but that it was not exactly what people said it was and that leaves doubt in there,\" Selig said. \"The attention should be on the individual who was allegedly harmed, not the accused. It really shouldn’t be about them anymore.\"
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/Entertainment/matt-lauer-01-as-gty-171201_4x3t_384.jpg\")
Selig said doubting the accusers' stories -- like Russell Simmons' \"her memory of that evening is very different than mine\" and Charlie Rose's \"I always felt that I was pursuing shared feelings ...\" -- does not empower the accusers.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/Entertainment/charlie-rose-01-as-gty-171201_4x3t_384.jpg\")
\"My recommendation would be a statement that would reflect ... not just, 'Woe is me. I'm embarrassed. I’m sad,' but, 'It’s good that these people have finally been able to get some airing of what’s happened to them so the public knows and I’m going to take steps now to be a part of the solution or find out what’s wrong with me,'\" Selig said.
He added, \"I think sometimes less is more and the goal is to be as authentic as possible.\"
Reber predicts students in college courses like the ones he teaches at the University of Georgia will be studying the approach taken by public figures accused of sexual misconduct for years to come.
\"I think whenever there is a wave of things like this –- and this is unprecedented actually –- there is a chance to say here are the ways different people handled things in such quick succession,\" he said. \"And I think this will be a tremendous example when you talk about trying to represent people instead of organizations.\"
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