 |
General Motors has axed Teneo as its PR counselor following news that CEO Declan Kelly was inebriated at a Global Citizen event in May and engaged in inappropriate behavior.
A spokesperson for the automaker said June 25 that following a series of discussions it decided not to continue working with Teneo.
GM is the first major client to cut Teneo since the Financial Times broke news of Kelly’s misbehavior on June 24. Kelly had been advising GM CEO Mary Barra.
Global Citizen, which booted Kelly from its board following the May 2 charity event, also severed ties with the PR firm that serves blue-chip companies such as Dow Chemical, Coca-Cola, Delta Air Lines and General Electric, as well as Saudi Arabia.
Kelly, who is undergoing counseling, has relinquished some of his managerial duties at Teneo.
There’s a fine line between newsjacking and taking advantage, aka ambulance chasing. Our job as PR professionals is to tread it carefully.
PR firms need to be mindful of ways their work product may be protected by the attorney-client privilege whenever working with a client’s internal legal team or its external legal counsel.
Manuel Rocha, former US ambassador and intenational business advisor to LLYC, plans to plead guilty to charges that he was a secret agent for Cuba.
CEO mentoring is an often-overlooked aspect of why CEOs are able to make good decisions, and sometimes make bad ones—all of which intersects with the role and duties of a board. 
How organizations can anticipate, prepare and respond to crises in an increasingly complex world where a convergent landscape of global challenges, threats and risks seem to arrive at an unrelenting pace.
Have a comment? Send it to 
Jun. 28, 2021, by Joe Honick
This is not a story that should appear and disappear. Kelly has already been targeted, and, sadly, without realizing how his behavior cut right through his company and employees. The main point is that whatever hit the man must have been obvious to others who apparently could not get a talented advisor help. At a time when so many had been working away from daily contact with management and each other, concerns could develop without anyone knowing. This reality should be instructive to all pressured folks in all businesses.