Tyler Perry is facing a $260 million sexual harassment lawsuit from actor Derek Dixon—and his legal team wasted no time calling it a “scam” and “shakedown.” That move may work in court. It won’t hold up in the court of public opinion.

In this episode, I break down:

• How aggressive legal statements create reputational damage
• Why pattern recognition is the biggest risk to Perry’s brand
• The Christian Keyes video circulating online and its unspoken implications
• What Perry’s team should have said instead—and why it matters

From the “Lizzo Effect” to the gap between legal and reputation risk, this is a classic case of what happens when a billion-dollar brand forgets that beloved status is earned—and easily revoked.

Strategic Takeaway: Defensive desperation destroys trust faster than the allegation itself.

Want More Behind the Breakdown?
Follow The PR Breakdown with Molly McPherson on Substack for early access to podcast episodes, exclusive member chats, weekly lives, and monthly workshops that go deeper than the mic. It's the insider’s hub for communicators who want strategy with spine—and a little side-eye where it counts.

Follow Molly → @MollyMcPherson
Subscribe to PR Breakdown on Substack → prbreakdown.media

Need a Keynote Speaker? Drawing from real-world PR battles, Molly delivers the same engaging stories and hard-won crisis insights from the podcast to your live audience. Click here to book Molly for your next meeting.

Follow & Connect with Molly:

• https://www.youtube.com/mollymcpherson
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• https://www.linkedin.com/in/mollymcpherson/
  
  

© 2025 The PR Breakdown with Molly McPherson

Want More Behind the Breakdown?
Follow The PR Breakdown with Molly McPherson on Substack for early access to podcast episodes, exclusive member chats, weekly lives, and monthly workshops that go deeper than the mic. It's the insider’s hub for communicators who want strategy with spine—and a little side-eye where it counts.

Follow Molly → @MollyMcPherson
Subscribe to PR Breakdown on Substack → prbreakdown.media

Need a Keynote Speaker? Drawing from real-world PR battles, Molly delivers the same engaging stories and hard-won crisis insights from the podcast to your live audience. Click here to book Molly for your next meeting.

Follow & Connect with Molly:

• https://www.youtube.com/mollymcpherson
• https://www.tiktok.com/@mollybmcpherson
• https://www.instagram.com/molly.mcpherson/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/mollymcpherson/
  
  

© 2025 The PR Breakdown with Molly McPherson

A $400 million defamation lawsuit, a full dismissal from a federal judge, and reputations still in question. This week, we’re breaking down the legal loss—and PR fallout—of It Ends With Us director Justin Baldoni’s case against Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds, and their team. Spoiler: no one comes out clean.

This episode goes beyond the legal headline to unpack what really happens when public figures weaponize defamation law to manage backlash. We cover:

• Why most defamation suits fail
• What the law protects—and what it doesn’t
• The reputational risks of suing to “fix” a story
• And what Blake Lively’s post-verdict statement didn’t say out loud

If you’ve ever asked, “Should I sue for defamation?”—this episode is your answer. (And I’ve got a resource for you if you’re still not sure.)

Mentioned in the episode:

• Should You Sue for Defamation? (Fillable Decision Tree for paid subscribers): PRBreakdown.Media
• Social Media Hints At Reasons Behind 'It Ends With Us' Cast Rift, Forbes.com (Aug. 12, 2024) Molly McPherson

Want More Behind the Breakdown?
Follow The PR Breakdown with Molly McPherson on Substack for early access to podcast episodes, exclusive member chats, weekly lives, and monthly workshops that go deeper than the mic. It's the insider’s hub for communicators who want strategy with spine—and a little side-eye where it counts.

Follow Molly → @MollyMcPherson
Subscribe to PR Breakdown on Substack → prbreakdown.media

Need a Keynote Speaker? Drawing from real-world PR battles, Molly delivers the same engaging stories and hard-won crisis insights from the podcast to your live audience. Click here to book Molly for your next meeting.

Follow & Connect with Molly:

• https://www.youtube.com/mollymcpherson
• https://www.tiktok.com/@mollybmcpherson
• https://www.instagram.com/molly.mcpherson/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/mollymcpherson/
  
  

© 2025 The PR Breakdown with Molly McPherson

This week delivered a crash course in reputational damage. From celebrity divorces to Silicon Valley backpedals and newsroom blowback, this episode highlights five real-time PR failures that exposed deeper internal fractures.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Hugh Jackman & Deborra-Lee Furness: When a “conscious uncoupling” narrative veers into betrayal
• Jeff Bezos & Lauren Sánchez: The media quote provided about their pre-wedding press tour. Previous episode for context: (Houston, Gayle King and Crew Have a Problem: Blue Origins PR Free Fall)
• Elon Musk: His pivot away from Trump raises eyebrows.
• Jake Tapper: CNN’s anchor (and one crisis communicator) faces the heat from the release of Original Sin.
• Delta Airlines: A viral in-flight moment that struck the wrong chord.

Want More Behind the Breakdown?
Follow The PR Breakdown with Molly McPherson on Substack for early access to podcast episodes, exclusive member chats, weekly lives, and monthly workshops that go deeper than the mic. It's the insider’s hub for communicators who want strategy with spine—and a little side-eye where it counts.

Follow Molly → @MollyMcPherson
Subscribe to PR Breakdown on Substack → prbreakdown.media

Need a Keynote Speaker? Drawing from real-world PR battles, Molly delivers the same engaging stories and hard-won crisis insights from the podcast to your live audience. Click here to book Molly for your next meeting.

Follow & Connect with Molly:

• https://www.youtube.com/mollymcpherson
• https://www.tiktok.com/@mollybmcpherson
• https://www.instagram.com/molly.mcpherson/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/mollymcpherson/
  
  

© 2025 The PR Breakdown with Molly McPherson

Jake Tapper’s new book Original Sin: President Biden's Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again is making headlines; not just for what’s in it. The backlash, the omissions, the PR fallout—it’s all part of a larger failure in messaging that started long before the first leak.

In this episode, I’m breaking down the five communication sins at the core of the Biden cover-up. It’s not about politics. It’s about power, spin, and what happens when leaders forget that concealment is not strategy.

You’ll hear:

• The five sins: from silencing to muting the messenger
• The Tapper media tour misfire
• Why crisis spin can’t beat truth—even with a teleprompter
• How these same mistakes show up in boardrooms, campaigns, and C-suites

This isn’t about politics or who you voted for. It’s about what not to do when people are watching...and when they’re not.

Want More Behind the Breakdown?
Follow The PR Breakdown with Molly McPherson on Substack for early access to podcast episodes, exclusive member chats, weekly lives, and monthly workshops that go deeper than the mic. It's the insider’s hub for communicators who want strategy with spine—and a little side-eye where it counts.

Follow Molly → @MollyMcPherson
Subscribe to PR Breakdown on Substack → prbreakdown.media

Need a Keynote Speaker? Drawing from real-world PR battles, Molly delivers the same engaging stories and hard-won crisis insights from the podcast to your live audience. Click here to book Molly for your next meeting.

Follow & Connect with Molly:

• https://www.youtube.com/mollymcpherson
• https://www.tiktok.com/@mollybmcpherson
• https://www.instagram.com/molly.mcpherson/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/mollymcpherson/
  
  

© 2025 The PR Breakdown with Molly McPherson

This episode examines the sharp edge of celebrity scandal and why some reputations teeter over the cliff while others, against the odds, manage a comeback. With Sean Combs (Diddy) serving as the case study, this episode reveals PR moves public figure make when they are close to the edge of the “reputation cliff.”

Comparing a trio of notorious comebacks and collapses—Robert Downey Jr., Tiger Woods, Ellen DeGeneres—the episode shares how two made it through the crisis while one fell victim to it.

In this episode:

• The three signals a brand or person is beyond repair
• Why apologies and silence aren’t equal
• The harsh truth about when it's too little, too late.

Sources:

1. How allegations can impact Combs' Reputation, NBC News, May 14, 2025
2. Brands! Take a Stand! But Do So With Caution, You.Gov, Deepa Bhatia - December 18th, 2018
3. Poll: Tiger Woods Hits a Record Low, NY Post, 2009
   
   
   
   
   

Want More Behind the Breakdown?
Follow The PR Breakdown with Molly McPherson on Substack for early access to podcast episodes, exclusive member chats, weekly lives, and monthly workshops that go deeper than the mic. It's the insider’s hub for communicators who want strategy with spine—and a little side-eye where it counts.

Follow Molly → @MollyMcPherson
Subscribe to PR Breakdown on Substack → prbreakdown.media

Need a Keynote Speaker? Drawing from real-world PR battles, Molly delivers the same engaging stories and hard-won crisis insights from the podcast to your live audience. Click here to book Molly for your next meeting.

Follow & Connect with Molly:

• https://www.youtube.com/mollymcpherson
• https://www.tiktok.com/@mollybmcpherson
• https://www.instagram.com/molly.mcpherson/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/mollymcpherson/
  
  

© 2025 The PR Breakdown with Molly McPherson

Last week, my daughter graduated from Loyola University Chicago. After years of watching her build a life—on the field, on the sidelines, in the center of the action—she’s stepping into the real world. And like so many graduates right now, she’s walking in with drive, uncertainty, and a digital footprint that started long before her first job offer.

This episode is a message to her—and to every graduate who needs a little direction that’s not sugarcoated. It’s a life list. The same one I’ve given my own kids (sometimes more than once). The same one I use with clients in crisis.

In this episode:

• The top three questions students (and parents) ask me after every keynote
• Why your degree matters less than how well you can read a room
• The habits and mindsets that actually keep reputations intact
• What to say in your first “I don’t know what to do” moment at work
• And the one thing every Gen Z grad needs to hear—especially those shaped by the pandemic years

This is not motivational filler. It’s a real list for the real world. Send it to your grad. Save it for your kid. Or come back to it when your own clarity runs low.

Read the entire list here on my PR Breakdown Substack: What No One Tells New Grads About Crisis Communication (And Life)

Want More Behind the Breakdown?
Follow The PR Breakdown with Molly McPherson on Substack for early access to podcast episodes, exclusive member chats, weekly lives, and monthly workshops that go deeper than the mic. It's the insider’s hub for communicators who want strategy with spine—and a little side-eye where it counts.

Follow Molly → @MollyMcPherson
Subscribe to PR Breakdown on Substack → prbreakdown.media

Need a Keynote Speaker? Drawing from real-world PR battles, Molly delivers the same engaging stories and hard-won crisis insights from the podcast to your live audience. Click here to book Molly for your next meeting.

Follow & Connect with Molly:

• https://www.youtube.com/mollymcpherson
• https://www.tiktok.com/@mollybmcpherson
• https://www.instagram.com/molly.mcpherson/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/mollymcpherson/
  
  

© 2025 The PR Breakdown with Molly McPherson

Bill Belichick has always been a master of control—on the field, in the press, and with his own narrative. But this episode examines how that carefully crafted reputation is unraveling, not because of a fumbled statement, but due to the outsize influence of his much-younger girlfriend, Jordan Hudson.

A viral CBS interview, public statements blaming the media, and confusion about her expanding “professional” role—all illustrate a pattern where the desire to squash uncomfortable questions only fuels more curiosity and suspicion for the current UNC football coach.

Using the latest PR missteps as a case study, the episode spotlights the danger of losing control over the story to someone whose only real credential is main character energy. When boundary issues and amateur crisis management collide, even New England legends risk getting steamrolled by bad optics. The tension between protecting privacy and inviting chaos gets put under the spotlight, challenging listeners to recognize when a message stops being strategy and starts becoming farce.

In this episode:

• The real cost of outsourcing reputation management to someone with minimal experience and maximum influence
• Why blaming the media—and the audience—always backfires, no matter how famous you are
• How losing internal boundaries blurs personal and professional roles, turning even legacy brands into tabloid fodder

Want More Behind the Breakdown?
Follow The PR Breakdown with Molly McPherson on Substack for early access to podcast episodes, exclusive member chats, weekly lives, and monthly workshops that go deeper than the mic. It's the insider’s hub for communicators who want strategy with spine—and a little side-eye where it counts.

Follow Molly → @MollyMcPherson
Subscribe to PR Breakdown on Substack → prbreakdown.media

Need a Keynote Speaker? Drawing from real-world PR battles, Molly delivers the same engaging stories and hard-won crisis insights from the podcast to your live audience. Click here to book Molly for your next meeting.

Follow & Connect with Molly:

• https://www.youtube.com/mollymcpherson
• https://www.tiktok.com/@mollybmcpherson
• https://www.instagram.com/molly.mcpherson/
• https://www.linkedin.com/in/mollymcpherson/
  
  

© 2025 The PR Breakdown with Molly McPherson