2009 August, 4th

Phil Butler

Just a while back Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett passed away on the same day. This coincidence caused something of a dilemma for journalists and reporters worldwide, “Which icon do we report about first or the most?” Obviously, Michael Jackson being the legitimate “King of Pop”, received the bulk of coverage. Now, Vanity Fair has come up with a publicity stunt to garner attention from both of these popular celebrities’ demises. I would call it shameless, but it will September’s cover will no doubt the most popular in the magazine’s recent history. But first we should probably talk about Farrah’s “fragmented” inner circle, namely Ryan O’Neil and his daughter Tatum. Why? Read on.

Ryan is obviously the long time companion of the late Farrah Fawcett. And, just like all the skeletons coming out of the Jacko closet, there are many in Farrah’s as well. Without getting into the “fantasy land” frivolities of Hollywood too much, one “pitch” going around the gossip merry go round is that Ryan flirted with his own daughter at Farrah’s funeral no less. If the story (the interview of O’Neil will be in one version of Vanity Fair), not only is O’Neil the worst pond scum I ever heard of, but there is no wonder Farrah had some messed up times. Vanity Fair, intends to let the public vote on whether or not to feature Farrah and her dubious clan of followers, or Michael Jackson and his already infamous entourage of idiots, in their upcoming issue. As far as publicity stunts go, it is not altogether a terrible idea, it is the the subjects that make the ensuing backlash so mediocre. I wonder when Vanity Fair became a tabloid?

Desperation is an ugly sight portrayed near former greatness

In this supposed interview, O’Neil is supposed to make all sorts of whacky confessions, including the one about flirting with his own daughter because he did not even recognize her. Somehow I just think of Farrah from the old days, languishing in her public adoration as so many do, only to come to the end and be encircled by clowns. Who knows, maybe it was a circus of her own making, but still, where is the dignity in death many stars seem to have somehow achieved?

An excerpt from O’Neil’s encounter with his daughter is below, and I hope the reader can see my point in all this from this bit of “trailer trash” Hollywood fodder. O’Neil is relating the story.

“I had just put the casket in the hearse and I was watching it drive away when a beautiful blonde woman comes up and embraces me. I said to her, You have a drink on you? You have a car? She said, ‘Daddy, it’s me–Tatum!’ I was just trying to be funny with a strange Swedish woman, and it’s my daughter. It’s so sick.”

No wonder the guy stopped making movies in the 70′s, no one would want anything catchable to rub off on them. From what I can tell of the Michael Jackson version of the cover, if it wins, that story will be just as “tabloid like” as the Farrah variant. You know, I used to read Vanity Fair, it was a superb combination of photography and classy dialogue back when. I guess movie stars are not the only things that sometimes get worse with age? The magazine is already milking Farrah’s sad legacy for all it is worth as evidenced by the latest article about her life there.

You know there is nothing wrong with being a tabloid fish wrapper of a publication, but those kinds with pretty wrappers do seem somehow more insidious to me.

Ryan and Tatum, why would O'Neil flirt with anyone at this time?

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About the Author

Phil Butler is editor-in-chief of Everything PR and senior partner at Pamil Visions PR. He’s a widely cited authority on beta startups, search engines and public relations issues, and he has covered tech news since 2004. Phil wrote in the past for ReadWriteWeb, Mashable, Profy, SitePoint, Search Engine Journal, AltSearchEngines. Follow Phil on Twitter or send him an email at phil [at] pamil-visions [dot] com.

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