How to Survive a High-Profile Scandal

Dec. 4, 2006 — -- Kate Moss, Ted Kennedy, Britney Spears and George Allen.

What do they all have in common?

They've each endured headline-making scandals, but with wildly different results.

When Moss, one of the highest-profile models in the world, was videotaped using cocaine last year she was dropped from several ad campaigns amid dire predictions that her career was finished. Today, Moss is back and bigger than ever, snagging 18 top modeling contracts in just 12 months, winning model-of-the-year honors and earning $60 million in 2006.

When Allen, a former Virginia senator and top Republican presidential prospect, was videotaped last August using a racial slur, he was quickly condemned by political observers and his ratings sank in the polls. Once considered a shoo-in for re-election, he ended up losing his Senate seat and squandering his chances of running for higher office.

Moss rebounded and Allen was ruined. Why did one of them come back and the other one collapse?

The celebrity scandal is a mainstay of our 24-hour news cycle. Michael Richards and Mel Gibson are two of its latest faces, and Britney Spears seems to be a permanent fixture. And the reasons certain stars survive and others don't make it have as much to do with the nature of the scandal as the appeal of the personality involved, say experts in crisis management.

According to Eric Dezenhall, who runs a crisis management firm, and Michael Sands, who has done damage control for Michael Jackson and Kevin Federline, there are several general rules when it comes to celebrity scandal:

Come clean -- as early as possible:"Mark Foley didn't come clean at the beginning. He just disappeared," says Sands. "Everyone had to delve into exactly what he did. And that made his actions all the more unappealing. He didn't nip it in the bud."

A simple apology isn't enough: "I see no evidence that apologies accomplish what PR flacks think they will accomplish," says Dezenhall. It's an entry fee to redemption, but that's about it. After that, it depends on your personal appeal."