OMARION: PR GENIUS?

The tale of Omarion and the London Bomb Press Release is a curious and twisted one, and it's hard to see where the truth lays. PR Newswire carried a press release shortly after the bombings:

The release very simply stated that Omarion "was in London during the tragic bombings that struck [Thursday] morning. He would like his fans to pray that he has a safe trip and a safe return home. He appreciates your support."

Reuters picked up what seemed to be a typical piece of musician'e go missing the perspetcive, and tracked down the PR apparently responsible for the release:

AR PR publicist Shana Gilmore — who, when asked why Omarion needed to be kept in anyone's thoughts, was quoted by Reuters as saying, "He wasn't hurt or anything, but just the fact that he was there and all that" — claims she was misquoted. She added that she doesn't work with Omarion, and never has — even though, as her firm's Web site points out, AR PR handled the May 6 record-release party for his album, O.

Meanwhile, a curiously worded statement popped up on Omarion's official website:

OMARION STORY ON REUTERS UNFOUNDED ACCORDING TO ARTIST'S REPRESENTATIVES

According to representatives at the artist's record label, Sony Urban/Epic Records, statements and sentiments appearing in a Reuters-syndicated article (Thu Jul 7, 2005 9:22 PM BST) and attributed to the American R&B singer Omarion were never made by the performer.

Contrary to statements made in the article, Omarion is in no way affiliated with the pr marketing firm mentioned in the piece. The "publicist" quoted in the article is not a legitimate representative of the artist, is not known to the artist, and is not acting on the artist's behalf.

Omarion regrets any association with the article and hopes that fans will not be taken in by unfounded and unauthorized statements.

The curious thing, of course, is that this is Omarion's official site, and yet it's reporting the denial at at least one remove.

Equally curious is, right now, if you got arprmarketing.com, you're bounced over to Yahoo. Unfortunately for everyone concerned, though, they've not been able to do anything about the google cache of their pagewhich proudly reports:

TUG and Universal Presents The Ultimate White Party Omarion's Album Release "O" and Marques Houston Birthday Bash. Friday, May 6th in Hollywood California. For more information contact AR PR Marketing Firm Headquarters at 323-330-0555.

Even more interesting: PR Newswire claims the USD635 fee was paid by TUG/Sony and Reuters is standing by its story. Gilmore claims Reuters' quotes weren't made by her.

It looks like the attempts to reverse the negative press from what was either a rogue press release or a really, really poorly thought out attempt to hijack some coverage from a tragedy are making a bad situation much, much worse.

music omarion london bombings