TikTok Is Under Fire: Why a PR Powerhouse Hire and C-Suite Shake-Up Make Sense | Analysis

Out: creators. In: regulators.

That’s the implicit message in TikTok’s recent management shakeup, which saw longtime executive V. Pappas, the company’s chief operating officer and champion of its creator-focused strategy, step down and Disney PR vet Zenia Mucha sign on as the company’s head of communications.

“It’s no secret that TikTok is under more regulatory and reputational scrutiny, so a reshuffling of the C-suite is not surprising,” said Matt Bilinsky, a media, tech and business-focused attorney.

Pappas and Mucha were just the two most notable changing faces in a wide-ranging corporate reshuffle, but the symbolism in the moves is strong. Mucha had already been hired on to coach TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew before his Congressional testimony this spring, for all the good that did him; her ascension makes her role permanent and high-profile. Why put an in-your-face spin doctor with ties to Hollywood and Washington front and center? The answer is that the company has a geopolitical mess on its hands.

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TikTok is owned by ByteDance, a Chinese company. Its growing popularity and concern about how the company handles Americans’ data has generated a wide range of increasingly hostile responses from state and federal bodies. The state of Montana went as far as banning it, a move TikTok and some users are fighting in court, citing First Amendment protections. Despite its app’s immense popularity, the company’s intersection with politics has it in a tricky spot, which experts say explains the corporate shakeup.

“TikTok’s appointment of Zenia Mucha makes perfect sense given her penchant for fortifying the image of corporate brands — something TikTok sorely needs at the moment due to growing criticism over its Chinese origins and content-related concerns,” said Jeremy Goldman, a senior director at Insider Intelligence. “She’s known for her assertive, aggressive approach in media relations and brings with her a wealth of experience from the entertainment and political sectors.”

Mucha spent over 20 years at Disney, joining in 2001 and leaving in 2022. Before that, she was a top aide to New York Governor George Pataki, which gave her lasting connections to the political world. During her time at Disney, she earned a reputation as a media hard-baller who aggressively pushed the company’s family-friendly brand and expertly defended the company’s reputation.

Goldman doesn’t think Mucha’s arrival is tied to Pappas’ exit — which was attributed to a desire to “focus on their entrepreneurial passions” — more that the company wanted to get its organizational news out all at once. TikTok and ByteDance representatives didn’t respond to TheWrap’s requests for comment.

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The Disney connection

Bilinsky said Mucha’s hiring was a logical move by TikTok and pointed out the irony in the company’s hiring of another Disney executive, not long after its brief employment of Kevin Mayer as CEO. When Mayer resigned after three months, he specifically cited the political environment surrounding TikTok, which then-President Donald Trump had made a particular target of his ire. Following his departure, Pappas, a former Google executive who helped develop YouTube’s creator-focused strategy, became interim head of the company’s global operations. Now Pappas is gone, too.

TikTok could be placing big bets that Mucha is connected and capable enough to shape a more favorable brand perception both externally and internally, assuaging fears that the current regulatory onslaught is a corporate doomsday scenario.

“Mucha, a seasoned and tough-skinned PR brawler, is TikTok’s new hired gun to fight the battle against legislation calling for its ban” in the U.S., said social media expert and MeWe founder Mark Weinstein, who speculated that the company will be paying her handsomely to turn the narrative tides. Weinstein noted her annual salary at Disney was reported to be $4.9 million as of 2020.

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Brand perception, not business

TikTok’s business appears strong, experts agreed: It’s the government and public perception of the Chinese-backed company that’s the problem.

Despite concerns about what Pappas’ departure might mean for its efforts to keep creators in its camp, the company hired Kate Jhaveri as its top marketer last November, Brian Chevalier-Jordan, the chief marketing officer at National Business Capital, pointed out. That means the business side of TikTok — monetizing viewers and rewarding creators — should continue apace.

Mucha’s “PR prowess and government relations will be invaluable,” he said, noting that she would report directly to TikTok’s CEO, a sign of her role’s importance.

In the meantime, TikTok has one big asset Mucha can leverage: the popularity of its app. It’s the most-downloaded app over the last five years, beating Meta’s Instagram, according to AppTopia figures cited by Axios. As the government ups its anti-TikTok measures, Mucha has her work cut out for her. But much like Disney, she’ll have the advantage of an already well-known and well-liked brand.

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