Hollywood Thrives on ‘Rabid’ Fans. For Publicists, They’re a Nightmare
Earlier this week, a seismic shift occurred within the Heated Rivalry fandom involving the polarizing stan behind Club Chalamet. It all started when X account
Earlier this week, a seismic shift occurred within the Heated Rivalry fandom involving the polarizing stan behind Club Chalamet. It all started when X account “Fan Account Storrie Glorrie”—aka Simone Cromer, previously known as the creator of the Timothée Chalamet fan account Club Chalamet—was in Paris for Fashion Week. As she recounted in her thread, she was waiting outside Hotel Meurice in sun-protective clothing and a mask to see one of the show’s lead actors, Connor Storrie. According to a post on X, Cromer was physically and verbally attacked by a fellow fan while waiting for Storrie, with the person allegedly calling her a “bitch” and a “stalker.” The fan involved in the scuffle, identified as @mikadontyoudare, responded to Cromer’s tweet, writing, “hi babe:) just stopped you from running towards connor and assaulting him, security can back me up, so can many fans.” What followed was a back-and-forth between two people waiting for hours outside a hotel, hoping to catch a glimpse of a famous actor they do not know personally, essentially accusing each other of being obsessive stalkers.
The incident garnered widespread press coverage, as well as mockery: “Club chalamet gets assaulted in SPF protective clothing by fellow stalker of actor who has been famous for seven months i can never willfully leave this platform,” one person wrote in a viral tweet. Few, however, considered the plight of Storrie, who has been the subject of intense fan scrutiny for months—nor, for that matter, did anyone consider the plight of his poor publicist, who has to deal with the aftermath. (Storrie’s team did not respond to a request for comment.) “You never want to see that happen in a fandom,” Olivia Shalhoup, the founder and CEO of the PR firm Amethyst Collab, tells WIRED. “It’s not a story I would want told in conjunction with my client.” Neither Cromer nor the other fan involved in the altercation responded to requests for comment. The rumble outside Hotel Meurice, as well as the ongoing turmoil created by the intense Heated Rivalry fandom, raises the question: As fans become both more integral to a celebrity’s success, while simultaneously having more access to them, how does the rise of the parasocial relationship affect the work of a publicist?
Do celebrities actually have any responsibility toward their fandoms—and for that matter, is it a star’s management team or their fans who control their narrative? Since the days of teenage girls shrieking for the Beatles at Shea Stadium, impassioned fans have been integral to show business. But the internet has imbued them with a great deal more power. For celebrities, a large, devoted fan base is a double-edged sword: It’s a source of their income, but it also can be a huge pain in the ass for them and their teams. In some respects, online fandoms have been a boon for PR as a whole. Many fans have much larger platforms than traditional journalists or media outlets, and their coverage is almost uniformly bound to be positive. With this in mind, publicists will often reach out to large fan accounts with exclusive offers to post a snippet from an artist’s upcoming music video or invite them to a curated event in honor of the talent.
The BriefWire