{"id":35,"date":"2023-04-04T14:30:01","date_gmt":"2023-04-04T18:30:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/prcasestudies\/?post_type=chapter&p=35"},"modified":"2024-05-02T12:13:34","modified_gmt":"2024-05-02T16:13:34","slug":"case-study-8","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/pressbooks.bccampus.ca\/prcasestudies\/chapter\/case-study-8\/","title":{"raw":"Case Study #8: \u201cAlmost Naked\u201d Party-Goers Get a Dressing Down","rendered":"Case Study #8: \u201cAlmost Naked\u201d Party-Goers Get a Dressing Down"},"content":{"raw":"by Tigran Martirosian and Sam Schechter, 2024\r\n

Walking through the Wrong Door<\/h2>\r\n\u201cIn the life of every person comes a moment when he walks through a wrong door,\u201d said Philipp Kirkorov, one of Russia\u2019s prominent pop artists, who attended the now-infamous \u201cAlmost-Naked Party\u201d in nothing but a glittery see-through jumpsuit and underpants. These words perfectly described the pall of tearful apologies, annulled sponsorships, and brief jail sentences that these almost naked party-goers experienced.\r\n\r\nCelebrity influencer and television personality Anastasia Ivleyeva invited the\u00a0elites of Russian pop culture to a themed \u201calmost-naked\u201d party on December 20th, 2023, at the Mutabor Club in Moscow (Jankowicz, 2023), with tickets reportedly costing\u00a0a million rubles each\u00a0(approximately US $11,000) (Meduza, 2023).\r\n\r\nThe event drew attendees from diverse backgrounds, featuring public figures known for shaping cultural opinions for decades. Each of these figures had a prominent spotlight in Russian pop culture. The scantily-clad stars wore flesh-colored mesh, lace, lingerie, or even less (Sauer, 2023). Ksenia Sobchak, rumored to be President Vladimir Putin's goddaughter, was also in attendance (Sauer, 2023).\r\n\r\nHowever, a new red line was unwittingly crossed, as the raunchy celebrity-studded party prompted outrage among conservative Russian audiences. Waking up with a hangover\u2013of the worst political kind\u2014is how some of Russia\u2019s top celebrities started the New Year.\r\n\r\nThis came at a critical time for Russia, just as the nation approached the two-year mark of its military campaign in Ukraine and faced a presidential vote in March, 2024. Russia\u2019s crusaders for traditional values found a new battleground, and nudity of all kinds became a target (Hartog, 2024). The party prompted Yekaterina Mizulina, the ultra-patriotic head of the Safe Internet League, a pseudo-NGO, to call it \u201ca cynical act \u2026 at a time when our men are dying in the special military operation, and many children are losing their fathers\u201d (para.8).\r\n\r\nThe situation was unprecedented, but the blowback was immediate and severe. Pro-Kremlin bloggers, state media, and Orthodox Christian groups led a fierce backlash that dominated headlines for days (Osborne, 2023). Following the event, at least six participants publicly apologized, expressing regrets and\/or implausible defenses.\r\n\r\nMaria Zakharova, a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson, said that the event \u201cstained\u201d the participants, but offered an opportunity to party-goers to reflect and improve themselves (Osborne, 2023). As the conservative outrage piled up, police raided Mutabor Club on December 21st, 2023 (Hartog, 2024).\r\n

Celebrity Scandal, Response, and Consequences<\/h2>\r\nIn the public relations aftermath, some party-goers made strategic communications decisions towards maintaining their previously trusting relationships with audiences, while others made terrible decisions. Either through skill or folly, all of these individuals showcased the importance of trustworthy public relations and protecting and restoring one\u2019s reputation.\r\n\r\nTo start with, Anastasia Ivleyeva, who had 18 million Instagram followers, said the event was the premiere of her photography project, originally commissioned by the local branch of Playboy magazine (Hartog, 2024). She said the dress code was \u201calmost naked\u201d and that guests were given the freedom to interpret that as they saw fit.\r\n\r\nNo doubt true, but she could have anticipated controversy and avoided some of these potential outcomes by, for instance, asking attendees not to film the event. And, once the controversy erupted, Ivleyeva counterproductively took a defensive stance. \u201cIt was just beautiful people in beautiful outfits, half-naked. When we look at beautiful, slender models in the West, we say, \u2018D**n, they\u2019re so beautiful, they\u2019re so cool.\u2019 And our beautiful, fit artists go out, and everyone is like, \u2018F***, how could they! Showbiz has gone downhill\u2019,\u201d she wrote the day after the party (later deleting the post) (Meduza, 2023). The response failed to understand the backlash, escalating the audience's dissatisfaction.\r\n\r\nWithin days, partygoers began issuing public apologies for attending the event. One of the first to do so, on December 24th, was Ivleyeva herself, promising to donate the proceeds from ticket sales to charitable causes. However, because Ivleyeva did not specify which charitable causes, audiences questioned the legitimacy, transparency, and authenticity of the apology. Soon after, Russia\u2019s largest mobile network operator, MTS, removed Ivleyeva from its list of brand ambassadors, while one of the largest banks, Tinkoff, ended its contract with her.\r\n\r\nOn December 21st, Russian television anchor and journalist Ksenia Sobchak, who attended the party, issued a half-hearted apology with some mixed messaging (Borisenko, 2023). However, the audience was not accepting half-hearted apologies. Because of her public profile, Sobchak was under enormous pressure from government leaders. On December 26th, Sobchak issued a new, more complete and direct apology. Her initial comments and subsequent apology can be seen as a response to the pressure on her, which showcases the Kremlin's influence over media and public individuals during critical events.\r\n\r\nFor Philipp Kirkorov, pressure came publicly and directly from President Putin\u2019s press secretary. Kirkorov responded by downplaying his motivations and lying about how long he attended the party (which was promptly exposed as a lie) (Borisenko, 2023). The rationale behind such an attempt falls short, considering the undeniable evidence presented through photographs and videos, revealing a full evening of partying that is not even close to Kirkorov\u2019s original \u201cdropped in for five minutes\u201d claim (Russia Television, 2023).\r\n\r\nKirkorov\u2019s self-inflicted wound underscores a crucial lesson for the realm of public relations: in a digital media landscape with constant photo and video sharing, anonymity and privacy are antiquated notions. While this person\u2019s attempt to reduce the scale of anger by lying to society might have provided some help for the first couple of days, the collapse of his self-excuse was inevitable, worsening the relationship with the audience and the damage to himself.\r\n\r\nPromptly, Kirkorov\u2019s image was removed from advertising for a New Year's comedy show and other New Year's events were edited to remove images of Kirkorov (Ilyinsky, 2023), representing a significant attack to his personal brand.\r\n\r\nAnother implicated figure was popular singer, Dima Bilan, who posted a video on Instagram on December 26th, in which he also tried to justify the outfits of party attendees. \u201cI knew about the dress code, but everyone had their own understanding of what that meant. Attending events is part of my profession. It\u2019s my job. I couldn\u2019t have known in advance what other people would wear. I can only be accountable for myself,\u201d he said (Borisenko, 2023). Bilan\u2019s stance aimed to reinforce his integrity, connecting his behaviour to a professional ethic. In this way, he was more successful than other attendees, as some saw this as a valid argument and not so much of a deflection of responsibility.\r\n\r\nOn December 22nd, singer and actor Lolita Milyavskaya defended the party: \u201cThis organized hate from out of the blue made me laugh. The party was ironic, not about sex, otherwise, you know, they wouldn\u2019t have invited 60-year-olds\u201d (Borisenko, 2023). However, with the backlash intensifying, three days later, the singer completely changed her tune, acknowledging error and taking responsibility (Borisenko, 2023).\r\n\r\nThe immediate move of other artists towards public apologies indicated a recognition of the event's misalignment with public sentiment and the reigning political context (Borisenko, 2023).\r\n\r\nHowever, the most significant case was that of rap artist Vacio, legally known as Nikolai Vasilyev, who faced legal consequences for his attire at the event. Going to the party wearing only a single white sock to cover his genitals, an homage to the famous 1987 Red Hot Chili Peppers album cover (Sauer, 2023), Vasilyev was sentenced to 15 days in prison for \"disorderly conduct\" and was fined 200,000 rubles (approximately US $2,200) (Al Jazeera, 2023).\r\n\r\nThe arrest of Vasilyev and charges pressed against Ivleyeva were seen as part of a wider Kremlin crackdown on LGBT+ rights across Russia (Sarkar, 2023). Beyond the fact he had apologized, there was a twist to this story: so-called Easter eggs referencing the situation were included in Vasilyev\u2019s new video demonstrating \u201c10 ways to destroy a Balenciaga sock\u201d (Sablin, 2024), a form of protest often appreciated among rap enthusiasts. Despite the Easter eggs, Vasilyev publicly bowed to external pressure and aligned his public statements with apologies from other attendees. Shortly thereafter, Vasilyev was drafted into the Russian military and his jail sentence was extended by an additional 10 days (Hartog, 2024). Apparently, the wrong audience found the Easter eggs.\r\n

Learning Points<\/h2>\r\nThe PR strategies employed by the celebrities in response to the backlash from the \"Almost-Naked Party\" varied in effectiveness. While the initial reactions were met with criticism for their apparent insensitivity, the follow-up apologies and clarifications helped to soften the public's stance and restore some degree of public trust, though the celebrities themselves were clearly less sincere and apologetic because of the controversy, rather than their actual behaviour.\r\n\r\nThe \u201calmost naked\u201d case study offers a range of important learning takeaways:\r\n