Hollywood Publicist Exposes Famous Couples Fake Romances
[Source: Metro News]
Hollywood publicist exposes fake romances and ‘love contracts’ that ‘legally bind famous couples together for at least a year’
One Hollywood publicist has lifted the lid on so-called ‘showmances’ – that is, celebrity romances that are, allegedly, set up all for the sweet, sweet publicity. Jack Ketsoyan dished all the piping hot tea during a recent podcast in Australia for Mamamia’s The Quicky, in which he detailed putting together two famous couples in particular who were anything but a legit relationship.
But to us, well, we probably thought they were the real deal. He admitted it was all either to generate hype around the celebrity in question, should they have a movie to promote or distract from some unappealing publicity, such as a project flop. Jack – who previously worked for Hollywood big dogs PMK-BNC talent agency, which represents the likes of Cameron Diaz and Jameela Jamil – explained relationships of this ilk have evolved over the years, once employed to hide the fact an actor was yet to come out as gay.
‘It’s to be able to sell the hype of it – whether a concert, album… or getting people to go to see the movie, it all about the hype at the moment,’ he said this week.
He continued: ‘The main clue you would see is a high-profile male dating a woman who is not high-profile and all of a sudden overnight they’re the most talked-about girl in Hollywood.’
The women end up taking the deal in order to become a star, with Jack admitting one of his clients benefited so much so, she’s now a household name. ‘It was more of a mutual agreement between the agents and we had a male who actually had a movie coming out and it was getting a lot of bad reviews and slack and they wanted to take the negativity of the movie away and make it more about him,’ he explained.
‘We found him a girl, a one year deal, he finished off the press and a little bit after that they went their separate ways. She did not want to do a two-year deal.’ As Jack explained, ‘it worked’, and not only did the press no longer give a flying flop about his lackluster movie, the woman in the situation ‘went from being the third-billed after any audition’ to being a leading lady.
Speaking to a lawyer, the podcast asked top celebrity divorce lawyer Christopher C. Melcher of Walzer Melcher as to the clauses.
“To the legal professional, there will most likely be stipulations as to where and when they’re photographed together. Some non-disclosure lines are built in to ‘as to what cannot be said and what needs to be said’, suggesting there could be a script if they were challenged by the public,” explains top divorce attorney Christopher C. Melcher.
And what happens when it comes to sex? Melcher claimed he has seen contracts that outline whether a sexual relationship would be on the table, however to him ‘if it was truly an arranged relationship, sex wouldn’t come into it’. People may speculate as to whether or not some famous faces chose to be together or were set up by the powers that be.
Taylor Swift and Tom Hiddleston, for instance, were accused of being set up to avert attention from her breakup with Calvin Harris in 2016, getting together and splitting up before their couple’s nickname ‘Hiddleswift’ really stuck. During a GQ interview in 2017, Tom addressed the speculation surrounding his relationship with Taylor. ‘I have to be so psychologically strong about not letting other people’s interpretations about my life affect my life,’ he said, without specifically naming Taylor.
‘A relationship exists between two people. We will always know what it was. ‘The narratives that are out there altogether have been extrapolated from pictures that were taken without consent or permission, with no context. Nobody had the context for that story.’
But some stars have spoken about the whole palaver, admitting to the smoke and mirrors.
Jackass’ Steve-O once admitted he was set up to be in a showmance with Nicole Richie back in 2006. What? You mean they didn’t believe they were soulmates at the time? ‘The truth is she wanted some publicity for something other than being skinny,’ he told the Howard Stern Show afterwards.
‘It was a big publicity stunt. She would come pick me up – I don’t drive – I think she called the paparazzi too. ‘These motherf*****s were coming from all directions.’
Amy Willerton – while now engaged – also once claimed Towie’s Joey Essex asked her out as part of a publicity push while they were on I’m A Celebrity in 2013. She told Now Magazine: ‘To be honest that was a horrible experience. If someone says to you, “Hey, let’s be in a fake relationship!” You’re like, “No, that’s not what I want!” I didn’t even know that kind of thing went on.’
By Mel Evans
July 26, 2019
