(Note – this post is more commentary than instructive. Humor me this time.)
Unless you've been living under a rock, you've no doubt been following (or like me trying to avoid) the personal and professional travails of actor Charlie Sheen. For those who don't know (all two of you), Sheen's life has been undergoing a free-fall of sorts, marked by repeated police issues, drugs , prostitution, a messy divorce and custody battle, and the cancellation of his hit TV show “Two and a Half Men”. Whether the root cause of these difficulties are due to substance abuse, mental illness, or just the result of what Hollywood excess can cause a person to become, few can deny that Sheen is in need of assistance. At minimum, he should not be encouraged to continue the destructive patterns that will in all likelihood result in tragedy.
Unfortunately, concert promoter Live Nation has opted to profit off of this saga, and has signed Sheen to a performance and merchandising deal that will put him on the road in front of a live audience. Instead of taking the time to develop an actual stage act, they have instead opted to capitalize on the immediacy of this story and rush him to the stage in a matter of weeks, with the obvious intent of making short-term profits off of this very public meltdown. In my opinion, they're not only exploiting Sheen's personal issues for profit, but are in fact “legitimizing” his increasingly bizarre behavior. If Live Nation truly respected Charlie Sheen as an artist (as they have claimed), then they would do all they could to discourage such self-destructive behavior, offer any resources they may have to get him assistance, and allow him to develop a stage act worthy of his talent. The fact that they haven't shows their true intentions, which is to callously profit at the expense of another man's life and family. The fact that Sheen cannot see how brutally he's being exploited demonstrates how truly troubled he really is.
It remains to be seen what the out of this shrewd maneuver will be. I expect that the live shows will be a huge financial success. However, I also expect (and hope) that the public relations fall-out from this deal will discourage Live Nation and other companies from making such blatantly exploitative deals in the future.
For those event producers willing to place short-term profits above all else – remember they may come at the cost of your reputation.
This is the first post I've responded to at all about this Charlie Sheen situation, but I think you did a beautiful job articulating the different (very sad) angles of this - well - situation. I absolutely agree, and would love to applaud your final message: "For those event producers willing to place short-term profits above all else – remember they may come at the cost of your reputation."
ReplyDelete[...] writing on event planning, services, and ideas. He handles everything from managing event stress to Charlie Sheen with humor and very relevant [...]
ReplyDelete[...] purists out there…the days of the sponsorship-free concert are over. Done. As finished as Charlie Sheen’s career. And contrary to what you may believe, its death was not the result of some corporate money [...]
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