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Celebs Watch Your Back: When Social Media Attacks



Sometimes its good to stop, look and listen when operating in the new yet massive social media sweep. In today’s day and age it is essential that every artist creates an online presence but celebrities are slowly learning this beast can become a severe burden. With the advent of Web 2.0, user generated content has become the dominant player in the social media web, attracting over 115 million Internet users in 2010. As Facebook, Twitter and the influx of blogs take over the web, celebrities with large social media followings are becoming targets for lawsuits and victims of defamation.

During the Twitter boom of 2009 our first subject Miley Cyrus approached her inaugural social media disaster. One of Miley’s devoted and loyal friends made the intelligent decision to post this delicious photo on the Internet.



Where the photo landed I do not know but let’s be serious it belongs on Hightimes.com. Anyways, if you can take your eyes off the guy on Pluto, holding a chalice of vino, so high he can’t open his eyes, then you might notice delicate Miley sitting on her "sober" boyfriends lap mocking a "slanted eye" look. Several days later an Asian Pacific Islander named Lucie Kim filed a 4 billion dollar class action lawsuit against Cyrus, claiming the gesture was a civil rights violation. The judge eventually threw out the lawsuit but it’s a reminder to all artists that social media presence must be monitored carefully.

If we skip a year forward to August 16th, 2010 we come to an issue between the boy band pop star Joe Jonas and his underage ex Demi Lovato. According to AceShowBiz, “On August 15th Canadian blogger Zack Taylor claimed Jonas and 17 year-old Lovatio - who is under the legal age of sexual consent in many U.S. states - were ‘friends with benefits’.” Jonas did not appreciate this comment and within days his legal team had delivered a letter to Taylor demanding that the blogger remove all comments pertaining to the relationship. According to TMZ.com, who acquired the letter, the singer’s attorney warns, “Your repeated posting of fabricated stories regarding our client must be viewed as evidence of your wilful or reckless disregard for the truth and reflect a malicious attempt to attack and devalue our client's good name and reputation." 

"We will be monitoring your site and will be advising our client of his legal options, including, but not limited to, the filing of a lawsuit against you for defamation.”

Although the Joe Jonas case never transformed into a court case, it paved the way for the first celebrity social media defamation case. On March 3rd, 2011 actress Courtney Love settled a defamation lawsuit with the fashion designer Dawn Simorangkir for $430,000. In 2009 Love began to grill Simorangkir over a $4,000 clothing payment. In court Love argued that her rants were merely an expression of opinion and were not damaging. Simorangkir expressed that as an entertainer Love has social media power at her back and personally I don’t blame her, if I was called an "asswipe nasty lying hoebag thief" I’d want Love’s head and her cash. This settlement is important because it shapes the precedent for future social media defamation cases. It should remind all artists that yes, social media can aid in your progression but it’s a beast nobody should feel comfortable flirting with. With fame comes a following and a following creates power so keeping that in mind we should all remember the viral nature of Web 2.0

To honor the current King of Social Media I give you Chamillionaire’s new song “Charlie Sheen”. Stay Fresh My Friends. Dj Dolph


Resources:
Miley Cyrus
Joe Jonas
Courtney Love

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Ryan Notes, should have Taken Notes


Recently I was fortunate enough to interview Columbus, Ohio’s very own Ryan Notes. Notes is an up and coming rapper/vocalist who on a whim moved to Brooklyn to pursue his career in music. Shortly after getting to New York Ryan was confronted by a man named Robert Alheim who introduced himself to Ryan as an artist manager but little did Ryan know Alheim was not formally trained nor did he really have any connections in the music industry. Unfortunately for Ryan a contract was signed and locked Ryan in for three years with Alheim. When I asked Ryan why he signed the contract he looked at me and said, “Well to be honest I was so excited by the fact that someone was willing to manage me that I did not even ask myself questions like; Are we compatible? Is this guy blowing smoke up my ass? What were his connections?”




At this point Ryan realized he was locked into three years with someone he didn’t want to spend another day with and at the same time was getting ready to release his debut mixtape. With proper management this tape could have taken off (http://www.datpiff.com/Ryan-Notes-Take-Notes-mixtape.126305.html) as Ryan has an enormous amount of talent and is very driven. So the question is what lies down the road for Ryan? When I asked Ryan what he is going to do about the situation this is what he answered, “Well to be honest right now I am in limbo, I am operating without a manager because I can not work with Alheim and have been doing a lot of self management.” To me this is sad because it really shows the dampener that a poor artist manager can have on an artist with extreme potential. At this point I understand what Ryan is going through. He is lost, cannot afford legal representation and truly has no idea what he has gotten himself into.


Before our conversation ended we discussed what Ryan’s options were and he picked my brain about what possibilities he has. First, I let Ryan know that he has to keep trucking on and creating content with or without his manager. Second, he needs to review the contract to see what is binding him and whether he has the option to sign a second manager. Third, he should evaluate the contract to see whether there is a sunset clause involved. After talking with Ryan it truly showed me how important it is for all artists, whether superstars or amateurs, to always evaluate the individual they are signing with before inking a contract.

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