[Newsletter] 2.13.25 | “Drake is not a pedophile,”
February 10, 2025
Lessons to be learned this month: A Florida Republican used a loaded, ‘bad word’ and it got repeated. Mark Zuckerberg couldn’t shut up. (Intended audience of one. Guess who?) The Mayor of Philadelphia flubbed the spelling bee – but laughed at herself. An example of body language. What’s in a name – and we ask if you care. This month’s apology (source surprising.) And perhaps a new category featuring corporate social responsibility.
“I AM NOT A CROOK”
“Drake is not a pedophile,” said the rap star’s lawyers in a lawsuit against Universal Music Group charging defamation. The lawsuit charges the company with amplifying another rapper, Kendrick Lamar’s “Not Like Us” which, appropriately called a “diss track” calls Drake a pedophile. The quote by the lawyers is particularly inept and damaging because the legal wrangling isn’t over allegations of sexual misconduct with minors. It’s about UMG’s promotion of Lamar’s work and allegedly how UMG tried to get more favorable contract terms from Drake, going so far as to encourage violence.
WSJ, “Drake Sues Universal Music Group for Defamation Over Kendrick Lamar Diss Track” January 15, 2025
THE RUNNERS-UP
“It doesn’t make them criminals,” said Steward Rhodes, founder of the Oath Keepers whose conviction was commuted to time served by President Trump, talking about his fellow Oath Keepers. In a spasm of denials, he claimed, “I didn’t enter the Capitol. I didn’t strike a police officer.” “We didn’t hatch a plot. There was no plot to invade the Capitol.” Then he came out with the “criminals” line adding that they “blundered in” to the Capitol, saying “It makes them kind of stupid.” He should also be careful of the company he keeps. In the same report, Enrique Tarrio, leader of the Proud Boys, who was pardoned, and asked what’s next? He had one word on his mind: “retaliation.” Hardly reassuring and not helpful to President Trump. Not just “kind of stupid” – which we call “hedged speech.” Just stupid.
WSJ, “Freed Jan. 6 Convicts Are Back on the Street and Ready to Help Trump” January 23, 2025
“I am not a racist,” said Karla Sofia Gascón, star of Emilia Perez. This dated back to posts she made about George Floyd’s death and then to posts more recently. The message here, as so frequently, is that you don’t combat or make negatives go away by repeating and denying them. She should have just said, “It’s not accurate” and then something about taking everyone as an individual.
People, “Emilia Pérez Star Karla Sofía Gascón Says She’s ‘Not a Racist’ in Tearful Interview” February 2, 2025
BAD WORD
A purge? Rep. Brian Mast (R-FL), Chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he supported the “purging of people throughout the State Department” in a 60 Minutes interview. His examples of wildly inappropriate expenditures may be important, but we recommend against the word “purge” which smacks of Soviet style ham-handedness. Predictably Margaret Brennan, the interviewer repeated the word, asking, “You want to authorize purging of State Department personnel? What does that mean exactly?” While President Trump has made clear his desire to shrink government, how he does it and how he communicates it will have ripple effects for years.
Daily Wire, “Margaret Brennan Pivots During Interview After Brian Mast Shows Evidence Of Wasteful Spending” February 2, 2025
TOO MANY WORDS
Mark Zuckerberg raised eyebrows on Joe Rogan’s podcast. He had a lot to say: “I do think a lot of our society has become… kind of like, neutered or emasculated.” “When you’re running a company, people typically don’t want to see you being like this ruthless person.” “I think a lot of people look at this as a purely political thing because they look at the timing, and they’re like ‘hey you’re doing this right after the election.’” That would be our interpretation, and others’ too. The Wall Street Journal headline read “Zuckerberg Debuts ‘Real Mark’ in Push to Woo Trump,” and traces “the many pivots” Mark has made. The WSJ also reported that despite a lifetime of being surrounded by women—his three sisters and three daughters—getting into martial arts “turned on a part of [his] brain that had been missing.” And probably should have stayed missing.
WSJ, “Zuckerberg Debuts ‘Real Mark’ in Push to Woo Trump” January 14, 2025
HUMOR
“Gimme an ‘e’…” was how Philadelphia Mayor Cherelle Parker began leading a chant at a rally for the hometown Philadelphia Eagles. Unfortunately, she went from ‘e’ directly to ‘l’ resulting in ‘elgses.’ Not since VP Dan Quayle spelled ‘potatoe’ to a group of school kids have we had such a delightful misspelling – which turned into a great lesson. The Mayor roared with laughter at herself. It’s a ‘must watch’ moment! Great job Mayor Parker!
NBC, “‘E-L-G-S-E-S!’ Philly mayor flubs Eagles chant ahead of snowy playoff game” January 21, 2025
BODY LANGUAGE
Elon Musk’s hand gestures at the inauguration festivities have caused quite a stir. The internet erupted with criticism. He said he was placing his hand on his heart and then saluting or throwing his heart to the crowd. It’s probably worth noting that in this sensitive age, this is probably not a good idea. Why? It risks misinterpretation. Watch and decide for yourself. (And it cost at least one person her position.)
Washington Post, “Elon Musk’s inauguration salute stokes debate in Congress, Europe” January 21, 2025
APOLOGIES
We’ve had apologies almost every month but none as long, as amazingly specific and uttered through the legal equivalent of clenched teeth as Rupert Murdoch’s British newspapers, News Group Newspapers (NGN) to conclude a years-long battle by Prince Harry to hold them accountable for hacking into his private phone. NGN went on for four paragraphs with a “full and unequivocal apology to the Duke of Sussex for the serious intrusion by The Sun between 1996 and 2011 into his private life, including incidents of unlawful activities carried out by private investigators working for The Sun.” Wow! Now that’s worth framing! We have nothing to add but our congratulations – and hope it will prevent other media outlets on both sides of the Atlantic from similar behavior.
CNN, “Rupert Murdoch’s outlets rarely apologize. The Prince Harry case was different” January 22, 2025
WHAT’S IN A NAME?
Does a rose by any other name really smell as sweet? More important in today’s social media age, does fake changing a name to attract attention work? And if it does, who cares? Coors Light “changed” its name to Mondays Light with “Mountain Cold Refershment” and yes, the misspelling was on purpose—to get viewers to respond pointing out the mistake, supposedly as an example of how we have fuzzy focus on Mondays. It left us, well, unpersuaded… how about you?
Today, “Coors Light is changing its name — here’s why” January 15, 2025
CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Shall we add a new CSR category? First the Grammys contributed to the larger effort to raise funds for those impacted by the LA fires by providing free airtime in the form of broadcasting ads that amplified small businesses and featured celebrities like Doja Cat. Next – and with a nice example of the power of communication, host Trevor Noah announced that the Recording Academy teamed up with MusiCares to raise funds, too. He urged viewers to donate but also the CEOs and celebrities in attendance. Throughout the show, he read the names of large companies and musicians who donated as a not-too-subtle tactic for others to donate. Entities that bit included Amazon Music, the Crypto.com Arena, CBS and Mastercard. Donations totaled at least $7 million.
MSN, “2025 Grammys Donate Commercial Airtime to L.A. Businesses With Help From Doja Cat & More” February 2, 2025
“You Don’t Say” is a reminder not to repeat and deny a negative word because of how the listener hears words. When you repeat and deny a negative word, the listener is likely to overlook the denial and hear the opposite of what the speaker is trying to say.