What do you do? You are a celebrity and you are involved in a scandal. Maybe you smacked around some paparazzi at the airport. Maybe you had a wardrobe malfunction. Or, maybe you were told you were too fat to fit into one seat in the airplane and talked about it.
Such is the story of Kevin Smith. In February 2010, actor/writer/producer Smith found himself on a Southwest flight to Burbank. He usually bought two tickets, but this time, got in on an earlier flight with only one seat.
Much to his dismay, he was asked to leave before the flight took off because he was too big. He noted he could put down both armrests and others on each side didn’t mind his presence. He was then asked to leave for being a security threat. What did Smith do? He tweeted about it and suddenly Smith was all over the news.
Of the period after the incident, Smith said, “I sat there for three days going, ‘Life will never be the same, I’m humiliated, there’s nowhere to go, nothing to do. I can’t retain my cool, my credibility’s shot. How am I supposed to be that Kevin Smith if I’m that dude who just got booted off the plane for being fat?”
Until that one thing happens that always happens – a bigger scandal overshadowed Smith. It was the whole Tiger Woods thing.
Smith said that three days after his incident, the Tiger Woods cheated thing exploded in the media and left the whole Smith story in the dust. Smith said, “…nobody cared I was fat anymore.” He now says, “I love Tiger Woods! I don’t care about golf, but I’ll always owe him.”
Now Smith is a comedian but everything he said is true. Remember Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction at the Super Bowl? Everyone freaked out about that for a while, and then something else came along. Same thing happened when Britney freaked out and shaved her head. And the multiple Mel Gibson meltdowns? Headline news one day, old news shortly thereafter.
So the lesson is, if you are celebrity and do or say something boneheaded, just wait. Someone at some point will come along and help remove the heat.