John Rockefeller said that first you gain reputation, then it will come in handy. And that rule is more valid than ever in Hollywood, where the reputation establishment is operating at full capacity.
Unplanned pregnancies, accusations of harassment, high-profile divorces, drunken fights, compromising videos of an obscene nature, taking revenge on ex-partners, being stalked by crazy fans – these and much more can knock even A-list stars off their seats and put them in a difficult situation. ridiculous stock. Yesterday’s public favorite becomes the object of persecution, and Hollywood studios, which had previously defended their charges, hastily reject them, breaking contracts and depriving celebrities of their livelihood.
And then they come to the rescue – mechanics who work professionally to prevent such situations. Industry insiders call them cleaners for their ability to handle sensitive issues, sometimes using harsh, dangerous and illegal methods.
No, they are not trying to create a positive image; The activities of repairmen can be compared to crisis management. So it’s time to take a closer look at some of them and their working methods.
Johnny Depp’s divorce from Amber Heard, Shia LaBeouf’s drunken antics, Britney Spears’ incarceration in rehab, Robert Downey Jr.’s addiction and prison time, Winona Ryder’s kleptomania, sexual harassment accusations against Woody, etc. It is enough to recall the profiled scandals. Allen, Roman Polanski, Kevin Spacey and most recently the scandal between Blake Lively and Justin Baldone.
While some of the stars managed to regain their good name, others still cannot recover from the consequences of scandals.
What methods did professional cleaners use during Hollywood’s golden age?
The heyday of the handyman profession occurred during the golden age of Hollywood. There was (and still is) a fierce struggle between movie studios for the attention of the audience. The star’s image is associated with the studio’s brand, so the reputation must be impeccable. MGM management was the first to hire professionals to help prevent unnecessary scandals.
The pioneers of the “profession” were Howard Strickling, head of MGM’s advertising department, and general manager Eddie Mannix. The latter had connections in the criminal world. Their unofficial mission, in addition to their main job, was to clear up various misunderstandings that the stars got into. It was on their shoulders to prevent information about the pregnancies of actresses such as Jean Harlow, Judy Garland and Lana Turner from leaking to the media. They sent them to underground abortions. For example, when Janet MacDonald’s condition worsened after such a procedure, cleaners told the press about her ear infection. They even hired a doctor, a chauffeur, and a team of four spies for Spencer Tracy, who was suffering from alcoholism, to keep him from starting fights in public. Needless to say, Marlene Dietrich said that the first person to panic after finding John Gilbert’s body was Howard Strickling.
The most successful example of Eddie Mannix’s work was his adoption of Loretta Young’s biological daughter. During the filming of The Call of the Wild in 1935, the actress had an affair with her on-screen partner Clark Gable and became pregnant. The actor was married, so the problem could not be resolved with a wedding, and Young refused to have an abortion for religious reasons, so Mannix organized a “vacation” for the actress. When the press became intrusive, they announced that Loretta Young had fallen ill after the holidays. Moreover, Mannix even arranged for him to do a mock interview with a Photoplay journalist. The actress, who is nine months pregnant, answered questions while lying on her bed full of pillows. And it worked. A year after her daughter’s birth, Young became her stepmother. If the actor had not revealed the truth about his daughter five years after Gable’s death, perhaps no one would have known anything about her origin.
Another famous mechanic, Fred Otash, retrained from being a police officer to a private detective. His career flourished in the 1950s and 1960s. He stood out for his ability to get dirt on stars, including cooperation with the FBI. For example, Otash managed to find evidence of the relationship between Marilyn Monroe and John Kennedy, and later told a Times journalist about the involvement of intelligence services in the death of the famous blonde.
How do mechanics work with stars now?

The name of lawyer Marty Singer is widely known in the film industry and show business. According to Vanity Fair, he gets paid $950 per hour for his job. Most of the time, it is handled in a pre-litigation manner, thus saving a significant amount of money. It is known that Marty Singer does not hesitate to use methods such as intimidation, blackmail and bribery. The algorithm generally goes like this: Singer calls the person harassing his client, explains in vivid colors how much he will lose on the ships, and threatens him if he is rejected. He does the same to unwanted media that tarnishes his ward’s reputation. First he writes them a scary letter, and then he offers them a deal: for example, not to write about an accident or a star’s rehab in exchange for something special (a rare photo from the archive or an interview).
Meanwhile, Singer even threatened to leak photos of stars to the Google search engine, without specifying which star it was. But in 2014, inappropriate personal photos of Jennifer Lawrence, Avril Lavigne, Amber Heard and other celebrities appeared on the Internet. Singer never got comedian Bill Cosby out of trouble after he was accused of sexual assault. He admitted that with the development of social networks, fewer and fewer lawyers are handling harassment cases because the American system ignores the presumption of innocence.
Professional cleaner Anthony Pellicano’s career collapsed when he took on the case of Steven Seagal, who had ties to gangsters. The man started to intimidate journalists by targeting a dead fish with the word “Stop” written on it with an empty gun. These actions attracted the attention of the FBI, who raided Pellicano’s office. He was found guilty of racketeering, illegal possession of weapons and explosives, and illegal wiretapping and was sentenced to 15 years in prison. Pellicano, as they say, really had a talent for this: under the guise of a private detective, he defended the interests of the stars, breaking the law. For example, his clients included Kevin Costner, Tom Cruise and Michael Jackson.
How are mechanics portrayed in movies?

“Hail Caesar!” Do you remember what the movie was like? Does Josh Brolin’s professional handyman character come to grips with the unwanted pregnancy of a single vaudeville star played by Scarlett Johansson? If you think about it, this is quite a plan: in order not to tarnish the reputation of the “perfect virgin”, secretly give birth to a child, arrange a fictitious marriage, and a year later adopt your own child. How did he quickly stop his illegal business of selling starlet photos? How did you land a bet with the gossip column editors, offering to withhold news about the actor’s personal life in exchange for an exclusive scoop? And finally, how did he rescue the kidnapped movie star of the Peplum genre, in the person of George Clooney, from captivity? It looks like the Coen brothers were inspired by the biopic of real-life janitor Eddie Mannix, mentioned above.
Liev Schreiber in the series “Ray Donovan” also appeared in the role of a respectable Grise, who skillfully solves difficult situations in which Hollywood celebrities find themselves. He does not hesitate to intimidate those who may jeopardize his client’s reputation in order to achieve his goal. At the same time, Ray Donovan himself can barely cope with the problems in his own family.
Source: People Talk

Errol Villanueva is an author and lifestyle journalist who writes for The Fashion Vibes. With a passion for exploring the latest trends in fashion, food, travel, and wellness, Errol’s articles are a must-read for anyone interested in living a stylish and fulfilling life.