But, he is walking in the well-worn steps of other cheating pols and celebrities who have made it back on the main stage. Cheating on your wife and even fathering an illegitimate child is no death sentence for our public figures. Just ask Republican presidential hopeful Newt Gingrich who is now married to the woman he had an affair with or Eliot Spitzer. CNN gave him his own show just two years after his scandal went public and he left his office in shame.
Like it or not, Arnold will be back.
What matters, from a crisis communications perspective, is what he does in the immediate days and weeks to come. So let me offer up a three-act script …
TRUE LIES
Everyone is marveling at how Arnold managed to keep this under wraps for 10 years, but now that it is out, the odds of other allegations surfacing just went up. Way up. There have been rumors of affairs and groping for years, which he always dismissed. He won’t be able to do that any more. One of the principles of crisis communications is to put the bad news out before others do it for you and take responsibility. Looks like Arnold did that or was forced to do that over the weekend.
The media will be on a search and destroy mission. If there are other skeletons in the closet, they will find them. Or other women who kept silent all these years will feel emboldened or will be enticed to come forward. Remember all the other women Tiger Woods slept with? Arnold needs to get out of the media cycle as soon as he can, so if there is more, he should: Put the bad news out there himself.
By doing so, he would avoid a slow drip of more salacious allegations that will keep “Arnold” at the top of Google searches for weeks to come.
John Edwards can hardly be considered the poster boy for good behavior, but he has managed to stay out of the limelight since Elizabeth’s death and focused on his family. Out of respect for his wife and family, who he has deeply hurt, the newest member of the Bad Boys’ Club should: Keep a low profile.
That’s not easy in Hollywood, but he is an actor after all. Every public outing he makes will be scrutinized. If he smiles, he will be criticized for being callous while his family suffers. If he looks serious, inferences will be drawn about how he is coping.
COLLATERAL DAMAGE
The reality is there are plenty of people and organizations that may want to keep their distance. Top of the list: the Republican Party. Fathering a love child with the housekeeper is not exactly in keeping with the party’s family values so he won’t be headlining fundraisers any time soon.
Arnold should weigh each public appearance carefully before stepping out, first and foremost for how it impacts his family. Secondarily, he needs to consider the impact his presence may have on charities and other organizations that in happier times thought he would be a draw. Now, he is more likely to draw a media scrum. As a result, he should: Bow out of public appearances for charities and others.
And what about the Hollywood movie machine? Arnold is starring in two upcoming films and producers have been quick to say the scandal will have no impact on filming or release dates (even though Arnold apparently queried his agency, CAA, about the possibility of putting these projects on hold late Thursday). For the long term, “Cry Macho” producer Albert Ruddy put it this way: “This is not gonna be a black eye for a guy with an astounding career.” He’s probably right.
ERASER
The Arnold scandal may lead the news for now, but barring any further revelations, the story will recede. There will be the obligatory “bare all” interviews with the housekeeper and at some point Arnold will do his own mea culpa interview. While we may not forgive or entirely forget, at some point, we won’t care anymore. And sadly, there will be another celebrity scandal to take its place.
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