Evan Nierman is the CEO of Red Banyan, a leading crisis PR and strategic communications firm. His team steps in to help protect people, brands and companies facing situations that could impact their reputation or revenue. He spoke about Jay-Z’s statement rebuffing the rape allegations and its potential impact.
Was Jay-Z’s response to the lawsuit allegations handled correctly?
I think overall it was a fairly good response. I think it felt authentic, like it really came from him as opposed to [having] been crafted by someone like me or my colleagues at Red Banyan. It was not perfect. There were certain aspects I would have liked to have seen done differently. But I think overall he did drive his main message, which was that he felt like he was being coerced and pressured and that he was not going to allow himself to be bullied into submission or to feel like he had a loaded gun to his head and needed to cough up money in order to make it go away. I think it was a little more combative [than] necessarily than it needed to be. I would have liked to have seen him be clearer and more forceful in denying the accusations and less on attacking the character or lack thereof of the lawyer. But overall, did it do what Jay-Z needed? Mostly? Did it do what he wanted? Almost certainly, absolutely.
Why did Jay-Z say in his statement that he was willing to take this to criminal court?
I think it was Jay-Z’s attempt to educate the public. Most people don’t understand the difference between a civil matter and a criminal one. And I think the point that Jay-Z was making, again, this wasn’t as clear as it could have been. But what he was essentially saying, and I think he could have said this more clearly too, is anybody can accuse anyone of anything in a civil complaint, you can literally say whatever you want about someone. You can accuse them of the most heinous acts, and they can then be reported in the media because they’re part of the lawsuit. And that’s unfair to the person who’s on the receiving end of an accusation. So I believe what Jay-Z was saying was, look, if there’s evidence that I or someone else [who] committed these crimes, these people should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. But someone accusing you in civil court does not amount to a credible allegation.
How would you and your team at Red Banyan have handled Jay-Z’s statement, anything you would add or remove?
I would have been a little heavier in the denial of the accusations and to be more categorical in dismissing them, saying that they were lies and smears, and that they were meant to coerce him into settling and spending money just to keep his name out of it. I would have liked to have seen a little bit more on the accusations themselves and why they were not true. Just saying, in very clear words, unmistakable denial of the allegations. Again, I think it was a little bit heavy in terms of the impugning [of] the character of the lawyer who was coming after him.
Were you surprised that Jay-Z’s name came out so quickly?
I give Jay-Z props for standing up for himself and for doing what he felt like he needed to do to defend his reputation. I also think that the lawyer overreached big time. If I were going to pick a celebrity who I could be very tough on and try to force them into doing what I wanted them to do, I would not put Jay-Z on my shortlist. This is a guy who is from the street. That’s part of who he is. He came up from being a drug dealer and a guy who was a street hustler. He knows the laws of the jungle, if you will, and that you’ve got to be the alpha male and he’s not about to get bullied by anyone else. And so, I think it was a little bit of a miscalculation, perhaps, to come at [Jay-Z] that way. Because anyone who’s actually spent time learning about Jay-Z and his path to where he’s gotten to now, would have no reason to think that he would have responded in any other way than with a lot of force.
Tony Buzbee stated that there were tons of other celebrities that he will be filing lawsuits against. How much time will they have to respond or is it normal to respond as quickly as Jay-Z?
Both Jay-Z and a bunch of other celebrities can and should be using the time ever since [Diddy’s] arrest to get their houses in order. And so I think there are a lot of celebrities who should be right now not just talking to their lawyers, but also getting good, high-quality PR counsel and crisis management. Because I do think that he’s only one of many who are going to ultimately get named in this. I suspect there’s a lot of other A-list celebrities who already signed confidentiality agreements and engaged in confidential settlements with this attorney in order to keep their names from being attached to [Diddy]. I think other [celebrities] are going to have to decide, are they going to go the route of settling quietly in the hopes that it doesn’t harm their brand equity or are they going to get into a fight like Jay-Z did?
How will this affect Jay-Z’s businesses?
Jay-Z is going to be all right one way or another. Financially, Jay-Z doesn’t have a whole lot to worry about. He’s built up such immense wealth and his wealth is diversified, and he is undeniably, you know, he would say it’s [indisputable] that he’s the greatest rapper alive. I think that he’s got a case to make for himself. There are others who may have other opinions, but it is undeniable that he is an extraordinary businessman. And I’m reminded of the quote by Jay-Z himself: “I’m not a businessman, I’m a business, man.” Jay-Z may have some short-term choppiness. He may lose some opportunities because people are nervous about the allegations. I don’t believe that this is likely to have a long-term impact on Jay-Z. Certainly not going to have a devastating financial one. Does it harm his reputation? Is this proof that people who say all press is good press [is] flat wrong? I would say yes. No, you’d have to go a long way to convince me that accusing someone of raping a child is still good press.
