By Greg Hazley
Ronni Chasen, a longtime Los Angeles publicist and former senior VP of global publicity at MGM, died this morning after reportedly being shot five times and crashing her Mercedes-Benz in Beverly Hills.
Chasen, 64 and a veteran Hollywood PR pro who worked on campaigns for “Driving Miss Daisy” and “On Golden Pond,” has run her independent PR firm Chasen & Co. for years. She was tapped for the MGM post in 1993.
“Ronni was a terrific publicist, blazing a trail for women in this business, like few others,” said IDPR president Kelly Bush in a statement. “I greatly admired and respected her. Our thoughts are with her family, friends and staff.”
L.A. news station KTLA-5 reported that police received multiple calls about gunfire and a vehicle accident around Sunset Boulevard and Whittier Drive and found a female driver with gunshot wounds in the wreckage of her car at around 12:30 a.m. She had apparently driven into a light pole and was later pronounced dead at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
RadarOnline.com initially reported that the victim was Chasen, which was later confirmed by police.
Hollywood trades are reporting that Chasen was likely returning home from the world premiere of “Burlesque” when the incident occurred.
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