 Kirt Webster |
Nashville’s Webster Public Relations has revamped as Westby Public Relations as Kirt Webster takes time off to fight a sexual harassment charge lodged by a former music client.
Webster dismissed the charges as “egregious and untrue allegations.”
Austin Rick, who performed under the name Austin Cody, claimed via an Oct. 27 Facebook post that he was sexually assaulted by Webster in 2008 and offered publicity opportunities and magazine columns in exchange for sexual acts.
“The point of my message is, selfishly, in the hope that getting it out of my own head and to you and a few industry folks finally, will help me reach some kind of relief/peace of mind in knowing that people know the truth about what was really happening,” he wrote.
Jeremy Westby, who was senior VP at Webster, takes command of the renamed shop that has been hit with client defections since news of the harassment broke. Those clients include headliners such as Dolly Parton, Hank Williams, Jr., Kenny G, Oak Ridge Boys, Cyndi Lauper and Tanya Tucker.
DJE Holdings, parent of Edelman and Zeno, launches RUTH as an independent shop named after Ruth Edelman, mental health advocate, wife and longtime business partner of Dan Edelman.
New York City PR firms make up the largest slice of O'Dwyer's 147 firm overall ranking with 33 of 40 in the New York/New Jersey area either calling Manhattan their home or having a presence there.
Subject Matter+Kivvit, which joined forces in May, has rebranded as Avoq, an integrated shop with more than 200 professionals in Washington, New York, Asbury Park (NJ), Miami and Chicago.
While PR pros stationed at in-house comms. teams and those working for agencies share many of the same objectives, they also have markedly different top priorities, according to a recent report.
Edelman is cutting 240 employees or about four percent of its workforce to cope with the cooling down of the PR sector, according to a memo from CEO Richard Edelman.
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