 |
The Financial Times reports today that Martin Sorrell was verbally abusive to his executive assistants in London and New York and junior staffers who are required to tend to his and wife Christiana’s 24-hour needs.
He would swear at underlings, calling one elderly colleague a “pudding” and describing others as “bozos,” according to the FT. One staffer called her salary “combat pay,” while another labeled it as “battle pay.”
A doctor told another that she if she continued working for Sorrell she would be dead within a year.
The FT interviewed more than 25 individuals who worked closely with Sorrell for its story.
The paper reported that WPP’s investigation into the personal misconduct of Sorrell included an alleged visit that he made to a Mayfair brothel a year ago on the night before the ad/PR firm's general meeting. Two WPP staffers claim they saw Sorrell enter the building.
Sorrell, who admits that he can be difficult at times, maintains that he never mistreated, abuses or bullied staff members.
He also denies that any WPP funds were used to pay for the services of a prostitute.
WPP’s general meeting is set for June 13.
It's not just the tech sector—when companies in any sector grow rapidly, what happens to their ability to manage, learn from and prevent critical issues from evolving into full-blown crises?
FGS Global’s Paul Holmes, Molly Levinson of TLG Communications. Trident GMG’s Joshua Galper and Brunswick Group’s Ellen Moskowitz all placed in the top level (Tier 1) of individual practitioners in the recently released Chambers rankings for both crisis & PR communications pros and those working in litigation PR & communications.
Gregg Feistman, M.A., Professor of Practice in Public Relations at Temple University and former corporate communications executive, joins Taking the Lead to discuss the frameworks leaders can use to determine when to speak up or stay silent.
Sam Singer, the Bay Area’s go-to crisis PR guy, today celebrated his client OpenAI’s “tremendous victory” over Elon Musk.
Deepfakes have crossed a critical threshold from an emerging concern to an effective tool, where any public figure is now a target for AI-enabled reputational manipulation. Here’s what PR pros need to know.
