Quite often, you see actors, actresses, and singers say foolish things to the media. This causes them to lose jobs, alienate their audience, and ultimately hurts their careers. They seem to think because they’re famous for the ability to act, look good or sing that what they have to say is so important (when in truth most are poorly educated and not all that bright). So they can’t help but add their voices to so-called causes. This happened recently when Penelope Cruz and her husband Javier Bardem weighed in on Middle East conflict with a misguided and factually erroneous letter. The backlash was substantial and they cost themselves a lot of fans, and a lot of producers will not be looking to use them again despite their considerable talents. It was so bad, that she quickly backtracked and stated that she really wasn’t all that informed. Now most of us realize this, but still a large percentage of her audience will not be looking to go to her next film.
To me need to keep your personal opinions and your business separate. In the entertainment world you need to be very careful as not to alienate a large part of the populous. One error can ruin a promising career and we have seen this year after year. Mel Gibson went from one of the most popular actors to a pariah in Hollywood when his drunken statements went public. (Of course his was not on purpose, unlike Cruz)
So what can the average person or business glean from this mistake? Well I tell people all time when you have business pages on social media whether it’s Facebook or Twitter, do not voice your personal opinions as to politics. No matter where you come down, part of your audience will be against your views. Unless you do not want to get business from certain people, keep your politics out of your business life on the web. Now if you have your own personal Facebook, Or Twitter that’s fine. Just keep business and personal pages separate. Obviously for celebrities this line is blurred and they are better off not commenting on polarizing issues.
Of course things in the news inflame people. What I advise is before you post something to social media or to you website, step back, take a deep breath, read and then re-read. Make sure what you are posting will help not hurt your business. In the log run you will avoid controversy and increase your business whereas a throwaway political statement could do irreparable harm. And lastly remember every tweet is saved. As celebrities find out all the time, people make screen-prints and their words come back to bite them even though they delete posts. In truth it even looks worse when you delete a tweet as that keeps the story going.
