To Ban or Not to Ban?

In the past Kelly Cutrone, founder of PR firm People’s Revolution, has made a name for herself by silencing those with a less than flattering opinion of her clients. Her latest campaign is against The Fug Girls, banning them from all People’s Revolution shows for comments made against Nicky Hilton & her latest attempt as a designer. Ms. Cutrone defended herself by stating “It’s a regional magazine. It’s not Vogue. It’s New York Magazine. But we haven’t banned New York magazine, but have the FUG girls been dis-invited from our shows, yes they have. I have no interest in working for non-fashion journalist bloggers.” “I don’t think they have any sense of validity for them to cover shows.”

In September 2006, Cutrone banned Patty Huntington of the Sydney Morning Herald for reporting false rumors. Huntington reported tensions between People’s Revolution clients Jeremy Scott and Ksubi. Cutrone posted the above flier around the Jeremy Scott show, even going as far as to call the journalist “Cuntington”. Huntington rehashed a telephone conversation with Cutrone on her Sydney Morning Herald blog:

The ban would moreover, she said, also cover all her international activities. She rattled off a list of cities where she staged events, including, I am sure she said, Moscow. She didn’t mention that the ban extended to outer space, however, given the eccentricity of the performance, I started to wonder just how many aliens might be on her books.

Cutrone then also offered words to the effect that she would make it a personal mission to interfere with my ability to do my job “for the rest of your journalistic career”.

[…]

Cutrone added that she would also be suing me over what she claimed had been a “factually incorrect” story, adding that her father either owns or works at a top New York legal firm. I’m not sure if she mentioned this purely to bignote herself or to illustrate that the billings from her agency are so minuscule that she would be required to ask for a freebie from dad in order to get a case up.

And of course, who could forget Julie Fredrickson of Almost Girl’s chance encounter with Anna Wintour, cut short by the ever protective publicst. We applaud Cutrone for going to such lengths to protect her clients, but can’t we all just get along? Isn’t there a better way to resolve these differences of opinion?

Cutrone isn’t the only publicist banning journalists (and bloggers) for their so-called bad behavior, but she certainly does receive the most press coverage. New York Times journalist Cathy Horyn has found herself banned from more than one show for her opinion. For the Fall shows held in February, Ms Horyn was not allowed at Vera Wang, Carolina Herrera, Nicole Miller and Dolce & Gabbana.

Since the birth of the printing press, there have been differences of opinion between readers and those who write. While we may not always agree with others, it’s important to respect where the author is coming from. We’re sure the Fug Girls won’t be the last to be “dis-invited” from Fashion Week, by Cutrone or any other publicist with a business to protect.