Los Angeles Magazine
Crisis controllers (because the press, the paparazzi and the prenuptials can be more damaging than the critics)
He’s been dubbed a “$400-an-hour fireman,” an “image rescuer” and a “Green Beret of PR,” but to celebrities with an image crisis, Michael Sitrick is a reputation savior. “What we do is identify the problem, develop a solution and work to change or improve perceptions,” says Sitrick, author of the new book Spin (due in April). “We make problems disappear.” He swoops in when pants are down, fists are up or “difficult” has become a star’s middle name and managed to “spin” the public’s perception in the celebrity’s favor. When the press portrayed Kim Basinger as a “spoiled little rich girl” after she lost her Boxing Helena lawsuit and then filed for bankruptcy, when Christian Slater was accused of hitting his girlfriend, when the tabloids screamed that Kelsey Grammer was playing more than patty-cake with a baby-sitter, the stars all called on Sitrick.