How Tanya Roberts’ Premature Death Fiasco ‘Puts a Black Mark on All Publicists’

Hollywood was shaken by the news of actress Tanya Roberts’ death on Sunday — but then, on Monday, it was reported that she was still very much alive. By Tuesday, though, her longtime partner, Lance O’Brien, confirmed that Roberts had passed away late Monday — ending a media whirlwind that has prompted many Hollywood talent reps and journalists to reexamine how news is reported and who can be trusted. “This was a royal communications screw-up,” Mark Macias, head of the global Macias PR firm, told TheWrap. “This is just a horrible story, period.” The fiasco has “put a black mark on the whole industry, on all the publicists. It’s going to take some time to dig out,” said Dale Weiss, SVP of CommCore Consulting, a specialty communications and crisis agency. Much of the blame has focused on Roberts’ publicist, Mike Pingel, a sometime actor whose personal website includes his show reel, books and clips of his online interview show — but no mention of his PR work. He told QLife two years ago that past clients have included The Harlem Globetrotters, Pat Boone and Farrah Fawcett. In an interview with the New York Times on Monday, Pingel blamed “human miscommunication”...

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