Woman in New Jersey Confrontation Gets Bad PR Advice

Woman in New Jersey Confrontation Gets Bad PR Advice

If your arrest goes viral, should you try to clear your name on Good Morning America? The best PR people understand that there are often serious legal implications to media relations efforts. They work with attorneys to make sure that the media relations supports the litigation strategy rather than undermines it.

The recent appearance on GMA of 20-year old Emily Weinman, a Philadelphia woman who got into an expletive-laced confrontation with the police on the beach in Wildwood, New Jersey, was counterproductive.

Weinman is already on probation and could lose her freedom based on this incident. This is not the time to defend her actions on the beach. A good criminal lawyer and contrition would be a much safer strategy for dealing with the probation issue.

Her answer to the question of whether she did not give her name to the officer because she was on probation is also problematic. When asked on GMA whether that was her reason for not giving the officer her name, she said, "No, not mainly."

Secondly, Weinman, who is charged with two counts of assaulting a police officer, put herself on the record by saying, “I’m not sure about the kicking part.”

Ms. Weinman showed incredibly poor judgment on the beach and her subsequent media appearances aren’t helping matters.

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