Jennifer Aniston's publicist is no one to screw around with, as NBC's Today show has now discovered.
The whole sordid affair began because of an US Weekly "exclusive" about Vince Vaughn's proposal to Aniston; Stephen Huvane, Aniston's publicist, went on a denial binge over the story, but this didn't stop the Today show from running with it, even going so far as to interview US's editor Janice Min on the air. Bad move for the Today show. Because Stephen Huvane, his underwear in a bunch, is now threatening to boycott the program. And Huvane represents people like Gwyneth Paltrow, Demi Moore and Kirsten Dunst, people the Today show might want to have on their program in the foreseeable future.
Here's what the Today show doesn't seem to understand. A good publicist is more than just the person who releases statements for you when you get caught driving drunk then spouting anti-Semitic epithets - a good publicist is like a mother, protective to the point of psychosis. So when somebody messes with one of Stephen Huvane's clients...have any of you ever seen the Sally Field movie Eye for an Eye? Yeah. That's how people like Stephen Huvane roll when you mess with their babies (unless of course said babies decide to sign with another agency, then it's like they never existed). So the lesson for people like the Today show producers is this: check with people before you do stories on them. Don't go reporting stuff until you've called the publicist and found out exactly what you're supposed to say. Programs like the Today show aren't about independent journalism, they're about selling crap. And since celebs are the biggest commodity in the world today - well, it just doesn't pay to tick off their publicists does it? Especially not the catty ones.
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