Tee Billz And Tiwa Savage’s Crash Marriage Saga
Tiwa Savage coming out in public to spill her side of the story has sent the Internet into a frenzy. Everybody has an angle, everybody has aside.
From where we stand, Tiwa Savage has won here (at least for now) by managing and controlling the potential PR nightmare of Tee Billz’s Instagram shockers. Here’s what she did.
Stall for a while.
The Internet sometimes works like a giant data bank that stores information for later reference. But it doesn’t hold anything in the spotlight for too long either. Some child will starve in Uganda or Kim Kardashian could upload another nude selfie in a couple of days and eventually, everyone moves on.
The first step to effectively managing a PR ruckus, therefore, is to stall for a while to get all the angles the public opinion is swaying in, then find a way to use them all to your advantage.
Speak up on time.
Stalling should not stretch into endless months of keeping up appearances. Silence is sometimes admissive as confirmation of guilt. If the media is given too little information to work with over a long period of time, speculations will drive the conversation.
Re-routing the narrative in your favour will take a longer time and be of graver damage to your career.
Don’t be afraid to admit fault.
You’re a celebrity, not a god. Admittance of shortcomings will make your reveals more credible. Apologize if you must. Just make sure you emphasize all the bullet points that can show the common man with flaws in you without overusing the victim card.
Play along sensibilities.
What issues is your audience dealing with personally? What part of your scandal can they relate with? How does this affect everyone else? These are important questions to answer if you need everyone to pay attention to your side of the story.
Worst case scenario here, the other narrative of as we have in Savage’s case will either balance the arguments or in a best-case, be relegated to the background as irrelevant. Either way, you win.
Change the story.
Both Teebillz and Savage have done this effectively in our opinion. Teebillz made the narrative about Jam-Jam and mental health. Savage in return, made the subject about Teebillz taking her money to keep up appearances. Every other shocking reveal by both Savage and Tee Billz was swept into the background by something less career damaging.
Be intelligibly honest.
You can do this by revealing just enough and obscuring just enough. For example, Tiwa Savage’s response to infidelity accusations was “I have never cheated on my husband and TJ knows this”.
Cover all your tracks.
Make sure all the plot holes in your story are airtight and sealed. Journalists will try to catch you off guard with inconsistencies they find in your account. Don’t fret or be too dramatic, if you’re cornered, put up an emotional front with long pauses. You must not indicate in any way that this was a calculated move, even if everyone knows it is.
Come out victorious with positivity.
Negativity will only make you appear bitter and run down. Wish your enemies the best, let the world know your support is still with them, and chart a way ahead for your career, so your fans know this is temporary.
Smile to the bank.
Find a media company to offer the exclusive interview. Give them a contract deal to share percentage profits from the resulting traffic. Everybody shoki(s) to the bank in the morning.
Credit: Sounds.NG