It's NOT Media Training, It's Your Personality

From a time where media training was so important to many celebrities to maintain their image and to set a good impression of themselves in whatever situation that may be to nowadays where media training seems to be somewhat thrown out of the window Recently we have seen how many celebrities have been given the label of having “bad media training” from Renee Rapp, Rachel Zegler, Blake lively and most recently Chappell Roan but is media training that important and would it actually help?

Chapters
0:00 intro
0:11 Chappell Roan
1:29 Media training
2:17 The fall of Blake lively
4:44 Lets talk about media training
7:01 PR teams
9:14 Disney and media training
10:48 Rachel Zegler and Snow White
13.27 would media training really help
14:16 outro

SOURCES :

Articles -

She doesn’t need media training, she just has a personality - April 16, 2024

What are the aims and objectives of Media Training? - April 20, 2023

Blake Lively accused of ‘using’ Taylor Swift amidst It Ends With Us PR scandal

17 Former Disney Channel Stars Who've Opened Up About Some Of The Wild And Strict Rules They Had To Endure - Sep 5, 2023

Joe Jonas: My Life As a Jonas Brother - DEC. 1, 2013

Snow White: Release Date, Cast, Story, Trailer & Everything We Know About Disney's Live-Action Remake - Jun 29, 2024

Vanessa Hudgens photo leak, police investigate - March 16, 2011

A conversation with Chappell Roan, the yodeling, queer pop icon of tomorrow - October 3, 2023

Chappell Roan and Bowen Yang on Queers, Fears, and Surviving Superstardom- August 19, 2024

Blake Lively was ‘surprised’ by backlash to It Ends With Us - 11th of sept 2024

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[bertvanbeterbed]

(apologies in advance, I didn't realize how long this rant would be until I finished it)
Its almost baffling to me how much celebrities are expected to always show off their best side. Almost as if they are more than human. Any normal person can have a bad day but celebrities need to be on their a-game anytime they step into public. I think its generally a bit worse with American actors than British actors, but I also feel like that is because the American media and populace glamorizes their idols a lot more than us "across the pond" folks (we still do our fair share as well though), hence they are expected to be perfect, or at least perceived as such.

I definitely prefer when celebs come across as authentic and are allowed to be honest and speak their mind. Personally, I resonate a lot more with the less media trained and rough around the edges personalities, as they just come across as more genuine. The danger therein is that much like being "strong-minded", being "authentic" can become a brand, and can just as easily be faked. Likable and down to earth celebs are very easily marketable after all. With how much Disney has been known to drill their kid actors, its no wonder some of them will at some point in their life experience some kind of identity crisis. I can't off the top of my head think of too many good examples, but I think the best one I can currently think of has to be Miley Cyrus in her "Wrecking ball" era. Its was like she was trying to show the entire world that she wasn't the cute little kid anymore. Fabricated authenticity might also be the reason why some people can so rather shockingly show their true colours when all this time they had been perceived as the "good guy" (like Blake Lively in that interview).

AAAAnyways... I drifted a bit off course but in the end I have never been one to form parasocial relationships in the first place, so I guess I don't care that much for how people present themselves outside of their work. I'm usually a big supporter of "separating the art from the artist" so that sometimes when a celebrity turns out to be an a-hole, I can still look back at their earlier work and appreciate it. It can be very difficult to separate the two, especially when politics are involved in both the art and the artist. But I try my best.

(p.s.)
to answer the question of the comments: Best PR trophy has got to go to Keanu Reeves. I feel like he is universally loved and has even been seen in daily commute giving up his subway seat to some older woman. He's a champ.

[mrdad-zlzl]

I think with Renee and Chappell it's frustrating when people say that because they don't see its an intentional aspect of their branding.

[mayamonth]

i always found it gross how people demand "media training" whenever a woman speaks her mind or shows her personality. There's people out there that are actual predators and don't get half the shit these young women do.

[sxt]

My mother has worked in PR in the political space and private sector and what I’ve learned from her is that good PR is really just being a good person. The reason a lot of celebrities hire publicists, beyond the very practical reasons for needing one in a professional sense, is because they aren’t good people or they don’t have good social skills so they need someone else to tell them how a normal person would speak and behave.

The difference between Chappell Roan and Blake Lively is that Chappell may not be media trained and doesn’t really know how to navigate her new life as a pop star, but she does have a great personality so those who love her love that about her. Blake Lively, who most certainly has received media training, is purposely trying to act quirky to come off as down to earth and likable, but no matter how hard she tries, it doesn’t work because she isn’t actually down to earth and we don’t like her personality.

At the end of the day, artists should be able to make their art without having to compete for Miss Congeniality. When I think of artists like Amy Winehouse, Nina Simone, Faye Dunaway, or some of my other favorite artists, they struggled to deal with the industry, struggled in their real lives, and could be difficult to be around. I don’t really care because they make wonderful art and they aren’t necessarily hurting other people.

In a place like Hollywood where a lot of people aren’t real artists and their only talent is being conventionally attractive and likable for the sake of drawing in ticket sales, the publicist creates a persona to market to audiences who may buy the product they’re selling and pass it off as artwork. It’s the art of advertising vs. real artists who just happen to be famous for making good art. I hope that makes any sense lol 😂❤

[ray-mc-l]

People talk about media training like it's complicated. It's just one thing - think about other people's feelings. Simple.

[hipuppy]

I also think it’s like typical that it’s often women that are being critiqued for this and not any of the leading men

[indigostreaks]

crazy to not include the factor of gender and race into this conversation as they are truly the backbone to the mob. when we talk about bad media training everyone is quick to point out women because society holds women to higher standards (and woc to an even crazier one). ModernGurlz made an excellent video going through this topic and analyzing the process. Cause it truly is not just personality. it actually frequently isn't. it is women not fitting the widely accepted narrow box of acceptable womanhood.

[zurzakne-etra]

This is such an important video!! So much shit was given to Charithra Chandran who played Edwina on Bridgerton because she was enthusiastic about her Bridgerton role and everyone was like " she needs media training". A lot of fans just expect woc and women in general to be these meek things that are always pleasant without a personality smh

[bellbanana]

The Rachel Zegler controversy seems ridiculous to me because Emma Watson (live action Belle) and Naomi Scott (live action Jasmine) said very similar things when promoting their respective movies. This is basically the Disney strategy for promoting the live action princess movies - justify its existence by claiming to have “modernized” the heroine. If people don’t like this strategy, blame Disney and NOT Zegler who is just following the same playbook as all her predecessors.

[vewoee]

i think with chappell roan, being an unapologetically queer person who speaks her mind, brings a lot of lgbtq+ people together. it’s who i personally want as an artist. she’s a drag artist and a musician, who has mainstream media attention in a short amount of time.

[jeffreyonemu]

I think Timothee Chalamet is always pretty good at interviews. He has this easygoing nature that just makes any form of tension impossible.

[remov]

The Rachel Zegler controversy got really too far I totally agree. I'm pretty sure she said those things intentionally in those interviews (and maybe was suggested by her PR team, who knows), as a little bad buzz is always generating more views. The lines are so blurred now between social media and traditional media too, I guess it doesn't help. Probably the best PR today for actors is to stay on the quiet side in term of social media.

[GiovannaNogueiraCruz]

Zendaya and Thom Holland, but they both seem genuinely nice

[jasonmillsom]

Honestly Chappell Roan is awesome for being unapologetic to the media and for addressing toxic fan culture

[sydshrt]

i’ve also started to become really wary of calling myself a fan of celebrities these days. that being said, when he was first coming up in the industry i think timothee chalamet was really fun for me to watch. his actors on actors interviews were really interesting and you could tell he was genuinely curious about refining his craft and learning about the other person. right now, i think i’d say zendaya and jenna ortega are some of my favorite people to watch do interviews. they’re both well-spoken and just have such an ease about them :)

[al.s.]

Of course everyone is saying: “These celebrities nowadays don’t have personalities, they’re like robots.”
*A celebrity shows their personality*
“Oh no, not like that. Because I have to like it, they need media training.”

[hipuppy]

People act like these aren’t the DRAMA KIDS FROM YOUR HIGH SCHOOL WHO TOOK IT EVEN MOREEEE SERIOUSLY like bffr

[problem.skinnn]

Remember when young stars were all ‘media trained’ to grin through older interviewers making weird comments about their bodies, love lives and choices? Yeah, I prefer this.

[lindseystein]

When it truly is an issue of “media training, ” it’s not like that training is a guarantee. Sometimes people are just rude.

[NuMetalfan]

I would rather Celebs be authentic than not.

Also as someone with Autism and Agoraphobia, speaking to someone who you don’t know in general is a nightmare.