Aug. 15, 2023
254: Ne-Yo's Yo-Yo Apology: How to Balance Belief and the Backlash
Ever thought about the tightrope walk public figures go through when expressing their personal beliefs? How a single statement can ignite a media firestorm, throwing them into a whirlwind of controversy? In this episode, digging into two intriguing instances: the aftermath of Ne-Yo's remarks on child-gendered transitions and the public relations quagmire that followed. Navigating the maze of misinformation, the fast-paced media frenzy, and the delicate dance between personal convictions and public opinion.
Then, examining another fascinating case involving Jamie Foxx. Remember that Instagram post that led to an uproar over perceived anti-Semitism? I'm putting it under the magnifying glass to understand how cultural sensitivities can be inadvertently inflamed in the digital age. I'm unpicking the nuances of how Foxx apologized and the delicate balance of authenticity and responsibility that celebrities must maintain.
Wrapping it up, I ponder the power of words and the significance of reflecting before expressing. Public platforms come with a heavy responsibility, and it's vital to be aware of the potential impact of our words. Join me on this revealing journey through misunderstandings, media mayhem and public apologies. As we loom over these PR disasters, we hope to unearth valuable lessons on empathy and respect in public discourse. Let's crack open this conversation and learn together!
Join Molly on Patreon for even deeper dives into celebrity PR strategies and exclusive live sessions!
Follow Molly for daily updates and more PR insights:
- TikTok: @mollybmcpherson
- Patreon: Patreon.com/mollymcpherson
- Connect with Molly: pillar.io/mollymcpherson
© 2024 The PR Breakdown with Molly McPherson
Chapters
00:00 - Neo's Controversial Remarks on Child-Gendered Transitions
09:26 - Navigating the Minefield
22:26 - Navigating PR Crises and Apologies
28:54 - Understanding the Impact of Hurtful Beliefs
Transcript
WEBVTT
00:00:00.501 --> 00:00:03.549
Last week it was Lizzo, this week it's Neo.
00:00:03.549 --> 00:00:11.205
And if you haven't heard about this apology rejection yet, it's addressing the sensitive topic of child-gendered transitions.
00:00:11.205 --> 00:00:13.044
Here's how that went.
00:00:13.619 --> 00:00:14.102
What's going on?
00:00:14.102 --> 00:00:15.367
Loved ones, this is Neo.
00:00:15.367 --> 00:00:20.106
All right, listen, I normally don't give too much of a damn about what y'all think about what I do.
00:00:20.106 --> 00:00:25.923
What y'all have to say about what I say, whatever, I normally don't care because, like I said, opinions ain't special.
00:00:25.923 --> 00:00:26.727
Everybody got one.
00:00:26.727 --> 00:00:32.923
However, this is something I feel very strongly on and I need y'all to hear this from the horse's mouth, not the public's computer.
00:00:32.923 --> 00:00:33.768
So check this out.
00:00:39.000 --> 00:00:48.987
Welcome to the Indestructible PR Podcast, where we use current events and tested media and PR strategies to help prevent or manage a crisis and build an indestructible reputation.
00:00:48.987 --> 00:00:56.567
In this episode, let's get into the intricacies surrounding Neo's contentious remarks on child-gendered transitions.
00:00:56.567 --> 00:01:07.503
A candid interview spiraled into a PR challenge after a strong rebuke from the LGBTQIA plus community and many others.
00:01:07.503 --> 00:01:27.647
An initial attempt at reconciliation took a bad bad turn because in today's fast-paced media environment celebrities and their teams they often have to traverse the slabberneth of public discourse, personal beliefs and the weight of public opinion.
00:01:27.647 --> 00:01:35.308
So let's talk about how does anyone survive public discourse when personal beliefs are mixed with public opinion?
00:01:35.308 --> 00:01:47.950
Neo, the Grammy Award-winning R&B singer, songwriter and producer, has recently found himself in the middle of a heated controversy over his views on child-gendered transitions.
00:01:47.950 --> 00:01:53.727
What started as a casual interview turned into a PR nightmare for the artist.
00:01:53.727 --> 00:01:59.242
Now some of you listening could be saying knee, who, who is this?
00:01:59.242 --> 00:02:05.227
Some of you could love him, some of you may find him irrelevant.
00:02:05.227 --> 00:02:12.169
That would be the response from someone in my household when I asked what do we think about this person?
00:02:12.169 --> 00:02:16.382
That was the word that came back to me in the text irrelevant, but anyway.
00:02:16.382 --> 00:02:24.031
So the singer found himself in this controversy after he sat down for an interview with Gloria Vela's.
00:02:24.031 --> 00:02:25.284
Now she's with Vlad TV.
00:02:25.284 --> 00:02:27.486
She used to be from my research.
00:02:27.486 --> 00:02:29.346
I was watching videos on this.
00:02:29.346 --> 00:02:33.145
She used to be more of a video person and now she does these interviews.
00:02:33.520 --> 00:02:37.246
I couldn't pull any of the clips from the interview because it's behind a paywall.
00:02:37.246 --> 00:02:39.105
It's just for members only.
00:02:39.105 --> 00:02:46.473
But I can grab some clips for you if you wanna get a sense of how Neo's comments came over.
00:02:46.473 --> 00:02:48.586
Came across the transom quote.
00:02:48.586 --> 00:02:53.750
I just personally come from an era where a man was a man and a woman was a woman end quote.
00:02:53.750 --> 00:02:55.825
How often have we heard that quote?
00:02:55.825 --> 00:02:59.788
Quote there was two genders and that's just how I rocked.
00:02:59.788 --> 00:03:02.105
You could identify as a goldfish.
00:03:02.105 --> 00:03:04.887
If you feel like I don't care, that ain't my business.
00:03:04.887 --> 00:03:08.664
It becomes my business when you try to make me play the game with you.
00:03:08.664 --> 00:03:14.247
I'm not finna call you a goldfish, but if you wanna be a goldfish, you go be a goldfish.
00:03:14.247 --> 00:03:16.545
We live in a weird time, man.
00:03:16.545 --> 00:03:20.804
If you let this five-year-old boy decide to eat candy all day, he's going to do that.
00:03:20.804 --> 00:03:29.703
When did it become a good idea to let a five-year-old, let alone six-year-old, let a 12-year-old, make a life-changing decision for themself.
00:03:29.703 --> 00:03:31.046
End quote.
00:03:31.979 --> 00:03:42.828
Oy, we can't heap everything on Neo on this, because how many times have we heard the almost the identical words as it relates to child gender transitions?
00:03:42.828 --> 00:03:46.329
It's the same argument over and over and over again.
00:03:46.329 --> 00:03:48.405
I mean eating candy.
00:03:48.405 --> 00:03:50.140
Would you like to hear some more let's?
00:03:50.140 --> 00:04:05.568
I don't know if this is true, but I heard a rumor that they either passed or are trying to pass a law in LA that states if your child comes to you and asks to do some of these things prens, drugs and surgery and you say no, they could take your kid from you.
00:04:05.568 --> 00:04:18.028
Now I took that quote from Buzzfeed and what they had stated that he was likely referring to misinformation surrounding a bill that passed in the California Assembly earlier this year, ab 957,.
00:04:18.028 --> 00:04:25.661
It's likely that Neo is referring to misinformation surrounding a bill that passed in California earlier this year.
00:04:25.661 --> 00:04:45.283
It is AB 957, and it stated that the bill proposes that child custody and visitation cases should quote include a parent's affirmation of the child's gender identity or gender expression as part of the health, safety and welfare of the child.
00:04:45.283 --> 00:04:45.745
End quote.
00:04:45.745 --> 00:04:52.586
So if it was passed, it would be just one part of all the information used when making a decision about parental custody.
00:04:52.586 --> 00:04:54.865
So that bill is about parental custody.
00:04:54.865 --> 00:05:00.360
So that was yet another piece of misinformation out there.
00:05:00.360 --> 00:05:34.379
Now, for the record, scientific American points out that major medical organizations, including the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, the Endocrine Society and the American Psychiatric Association, have published policy statements and guidelines on how to provide age-appropriate gender-affirming care, and all of those medical societies find such care to be evidence-based and medically necessary.
00:05:34.379 --> 00:05:36.170
Okay, back to Neo Now.
00:05:36.370 --> 00:05:48.738
Once that interview became public and the public started to weigh in and many people in the public weighed in negatively Neo initially tried to apologize and mend faces.
00:05:48.738 --> 00:05:51.218
So this was the previous Sunday evening.
00:05:51.218 --> 00:05:52.314
So this was last week.
00:05:52.314 --> 00:06:01.358
Neo, in quotes, posted a statement on X, which is formally Twitter, and this is what it said in the tweet.
00:06:01.358 --> 00:06:02.774
What are tweets called, by the way?
00:06:02.774 --> 00:06:03.677
Are they Xs?
00:06:03.677 --> 00:06:06.278
Ugh, I would like to be an X of Twitter.
00:06:06.278 --> 00:06:10.721
I really I have such an issue with Twitter, but we got to do what we got to do.
00:06:10.721 --> 00:06:12.375
All right, here's the tweet.
00:06:12.375 --> 00:06:15.720
I'd like to express my deepest apologies, ellipsis.
00:06:15.720 --> 00:06:22.233
And then there is a photo of him and here is the statement above it or over it After much reflection.
00:06:22.494 --> 00:06:28.879
I'd like to express my deepest apologies to anyone that I may have heard with my comments on parroting and gender identity.
00:06:28.879 --> 00:06:33.819
Any of my followers here know the problem that I have with that statement or with that sentence.
00:06:33.819 --> 00:06:34.762
I'll keep reading.
00:06:34.762 --> 00:06:35.502
We'll come back to it.
00:06:35.502 --> 00:06:45.781
I've always been an advocate for love and inclusivity in the LGBTI plus community, so I understand how my comments could have been interpreted as insensitive and offensive.
00:06:45.781 --> 00:06:53.702
I chuckle because I can't even read it without thinking and there's no way you wrote this.
00:06:53.702 --> 00:06:54.785
It's impossible.
00:06:54.785 --> 00:07:03.858
Gender identity is nuanced and I can honestly admit that I plan to better educate myself on the topic so I can approach future conversations with more empathy.
00:07:03.858 --> 00:07:10.821
At the end of the day, I lead with love and support Everyone's freedom of expression and pursuit of happiness.
00:07:10.821 --> 00:07:13.341
I'm so sorry to laugh.
00:07:13.341 --> 00:07:21.721
In the pursuit of happiness, I feel like now we're talking about the Declaration of Independence, maybe the publicist who wrote this, maybe they majored in history, I don't know.
00:07:21.721 --> 00:07:23.026
So here we go.
00:07:23.026 --> 00:07:24.170
That was the statement.
00:07:24.170 --> 00:07:24.812
Now.
00:07:25.033 --> 00:07:26.860
Neo did not like that statement.
00:07:26.860 --> 00:07:33.749
Now, if you saw that post on X, there was a post next to it.
00:07:33.749 --> 00:07:42.269
That said, in a more recent video posted to Instagram, neo asserts that this apology was written and posted by his publisher and he does not apologize for holding these views.
00:07:42.269 --> 00:07:45.062
So the chuckling continues.
00:07:45.062 --> 00:07:46.389
Oh boy, all right.
00:07:46.531 --> 00:07:48.589
Now let's go back to that statement for a moment.
00:07:48.589 --> 00:07:51.310
We can't blame him for it because we know he didn't write it.
00:07:51.310 --> 00:07:56.083
We know that he didn't write it and I had said in a TikTok post from last week.
00:07:56.083 --> 00:08:03.201
I said publicists are starting to get this right, yet there are publicists that get this wrong After much reflection.
00:08:03.201 --> 00:08:04.250
So listen for what I'm going for here.
00:08:05.031 --> 00:08:11.670
I'd like to express my deepest apologies to anyone that I may have her with my comments.
00:08:11.689 --> 00:08:14.189
Comments on parenting and gender identity.
00:08:14.189 --> 00:08:17.021
First of all, we would say who.
00:08:17.021 --> 00:08:18.915
They're qualifiers.
00:08:18.915 --> 00:08:20.086
They're qualifiers.
00:08:20.086 --> 00:08:21.750
That is such a throwback apology.
00:08:21.750 --> 00:08:35.509
The qualifier, it's words when you are apologizing to only the people who you offended, or I'm sorry that I offended you, I'm sorry you took it that way, I'm sorry I did X, but you kept doing Y.
00:08:35.509 --> 00:08:36.989
That's just gaslighting.
00:08:36.989 --> 00:08:40.629
That is just plain and simple gaslighting, because you're blaming the victim.
00:08:40.629 --> 00:08:48.129
But these types of qualifiers, when they end up, when they show up in these types of apologies, it makes them null and void.
00:08:48.129 --> 00:08:52.190
You've, or the publicist has, nullified the apology.
00:08:52.190 --> 00:08:57.764
It means nothing, which is exactly what Nio said, because he changed his mind.
00:08:57.764 --> 00:09:10.669
And it's very difficult when you change your mind, because now not only have you been dinged once for what you said, now you're being digged again for retracting it.
00:09:10.669 --> 00:09:17.509
Now, nio didn't just change his mind about that apology, he went all in and went to Instagram.
00:09:17.509 --> 00:09:25.965
Let me play more of the clip from Nio's non-apology apology retraction here we go.
00:09:26.813 --> 00:09:29.789
First and foremost, I do not apologize for having an opinion on this matter.
00:09:29.789 --> 00:09:35.929
I am a 43 year old heterosexual man raising five boys and two girls.
00:09:35.929 --> 00:09:36.985
Okay, that's my reality.
00:09:36.985 --> 00:09:42.321
Now, if my opinion offended somebody, yeah sure, I apologize for you being offended, because that wasn't my intention.
00:09:42.321 --> 00:09:44.528
My intention is never to offend anybody.
00:09:44.528 --> 00:09:45.820
However, I'm entitled to feel how I feel.
00:09:45.820 --> 00:09:51.710
I'm absolutely entitled to feel how I feel, the same way you are entitled to feel how you feel.
00:09:51.710 --> 00:09:53.509
I ain't asked nobody to follow me.
00:09:53.509 --> 00:09:55.470
I ain't asked nobody to agree with me.
00:09:55.470 --> 00:09:59.264
I was asked a question and I answered the damn question.
00:10:00.186 --> 00:10:11.534
Now let's contrast Neo for a minute with Jamie Foxx, who last week apologized for posting something on Instagram that many felt was anti-Semitic.
00:10:11.534 --> 00:10:15.975
The post, which is now deleted, foxx wrote they killed this dude named Jesus.
00:10:15.975 --> 00:10:17.409
What do you think they'll do to you?
00:10:17.409 --> 00:10:18.768
Hashtag fake friends.
00:10:18.768 --> 00:10:21.054
Hashtag fake love.
00:10:21.054 --> 00:10:30.735
Now, it wasn't clear what prompted that post, but I know when I read that post, I felt it was directed towards one person in particular, towards one person.
00:10:30.735 --> 00:10:33.833
Jamie Foxx was betrayed by someone.
00:10:33.833 --> 00:10:35.931
Someone was a Judas to Jamie Foxx.
00:10:35.931 --> 00:10:40.673
However, that is a statement that many call you know.
00:10:40.673 --> 00:10:41.956
They killed this dude named Jesus.
00:10:41.956 --> 00:10:43.032
What do you think they'll do to you?
00:10:43.736 --> 00:10:52.390
Anti-semitic, horrifically anti-Semitic, is what a wider frame, which is a newsletter that discusses Jewish world news.
00:10:52.390 --> 00:11:16.493
They immediately came after Jamie Foxx because of that post, and then a friend entered the chat and that would be Jennifer Aniston, because she liked the post, and then she had to reply to that in her apology, which she put in an Instagram story which goes away after 24 hours and who even knows, actually it could have gone away sooner than that.
00:11:16.493 --> 00:11:17.395
I bet you anything.
00:11:17.395 --> 00:11:22.288
I don't know how long it stayed up, but I bet it was less than 24 hours when she wrote this quote.
00:11:22.288 --> 00:11:23.452
This really makes me sick.
00:11:23.452 --> 00:11:26.452
I did not like this post, on purpose or by accident.
00:11:26.452 --> 00:11:32.669
And, more importantly, I want to be clear to my friends and anyone hurt by this showing up in their feed.
00:11:32.669 --> 00:11:41.298
Again another qualifier I do not support any type of anti-Semitism and I truly don't tolerate hate of any kind.
00:11:41.298 --> 00:11:44.293
The word period, period, end quote.
00:11:44.293 --> 00:11:46.412
Now again the qualifiers.
00:11:46.412 --> 00:11:52.354
She's just being clear to her friends and I guess it's Instagram friends or anyone hurt by showing up in this feed.
00:11:52.354 --> 00:11:53.889
Wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong.
00:11:53.889 --> 00:12:06.475
So she did almost like a neo-retraction because Aniston likely offended Jewish people it was likely people who were offended by that statement because it felt anti-Semitic.
00:12:06.475 --> 00:12:17.115
But she also offended a lot of black people who turned on her because in black culture, this phrase of they killed this dude named Jesus what do you think they'll do to you?
00:12:17.115 --> 00:12:23.912
Many attribute it to being anti-Semitic, but many people in the black culture attribute it to how people treated black people.
00:12:25.005 --> 00:12:29.496
I am a white person so I cannot say one way or the other what it is.
00:12:29.496 --> 00:12:34.995
What I can say is this I did a post on TikTok and I had a lot of comments on it.
00:12:34.995 --> 00:12:39.345
A lot of people saw the post for what it was, which is a PR lesson.
00:12:39.345 --> 00:12:47.673
It was just an analysis of Jamie Foxx and Jennifer Aniston and navigating that kind of cultural divide, how you do it.
00:12:47.673 --> 00:12:48.811
It was very, very difficult.
00:12:48.811 --> 00:12:50.730
A lot of people saw it that way.
00:12:50.730 --> 00:13:02.414
A lot of black people and Jewish people appreciate the nuance of what I was trying to address, that it's not easy, but then I had black people and I had Jewish people both come at me and totally I was racist.
00:13:02.414 --> 00:13:04.951
I was anti-Semitic and I was racist.
00:13:04.951 --> 00:13:06.590
So it's really, really difficult.
00:13:06.590 --> 00:13:14.195
So that's why finding out about this whole neo thing the timing of it I can appreciate, and I want to talk about how anyone can navigate this.
00:13:14.195 --> 00:13:18.892
So Jamie Foxx, though, came back and wrote an apology.
00:13:18.892 --> 00:13:29.649
That, I feel, is going to sum up the advice that I'm going to give in this podcast, and it's only advice.
00:13:29.649 --> 00:13:32.374
This is not what you need to follow 100%.
00:13:32.374 --> 00:13:36.015
This is just my opinion on how you can do it.
00:13:36.346 --> 00:13:44.192
So let's just discuss how you navigate the minefield in the modern media nowadays, how do you balance authenticity with accountability?
00:13:44.192 --> 00:13:47.552
So we're in an era of digital immediacy.
00:13:47.552 --> 00:14:00.542
So this landscape of public discourse has now morphed into this pulsating ecosystem that is always demanding answers when someone says something and someone does not like what someone says.
00:14:00.542 --> 00:14:03.552
It's like people demand to know exactly what they meant.
00:14:03.552 --> 00:14:05.985
People are automatically put on thin ice.
00:14:05.985 --> 00:14:11.231
It doesn't matter if you're an influencer or a celebrity, and I have to tell you I'm morphing the two.
00:14:11.804 --> 00:14:16.245
Even though I'm mentioning celebrities here, people on the internet are celebrities as well.
00:14:16.245 --> 00:14:23.471
If we're just loosely calling celebrities someone in the public eye, influencers on social media are quote unquote, I guess celebrities.
00:14:23.471 --> 00:14:24.414
They could fall under that.
00:14:24.414 --> 00:14:28.511
I'm going to loosely, and we're talking capital L.
00:14:28.511 --> 00:14:37.013
I'm going to put myself in that category, not as a celebrity, but I put content on the internet and I also found out tonight via Google.
00:14:37.013 --> 00:14:39.402
I had a knowledge bar on Google.
00:14:39.402 --> 00:14:45.952
Someone created one for me, like my own little profile, and they called me an internet personality.
00:14:45.952 --> 00:14:54.369
So I guess that means I qualify, because there's a lot of people who comment on my stuff as well and I feel I have to navigate this too.
00:14:54.369 --> 00:14:55.914
So I need to do it.
00:14:55.914 --> 00:14:57.009
So I'm going to pass it on to you.
00:14:57.725 --> 00:15:00.273
So what do we do when we feel like we're on thin ice?
00:15:00.273 --> 00:15:03.994
So, as the saying goes, with great power comes great responsibility.
00:15:03.994 --> 00:15:05.971
It's also taken from the Bible.
00:15:05.971 --> 00:15:16.236
Yet how does one strike the right chord between beliefs, your personal beliefs, and public opinion, without hitting that sour note and landing on thin ice.
00:15:16.236 --> 00:15:22.831
So the first step is you want to balance authenticity with responsibility, and remember that word, responsibility.
00:15:23.424 --> 00:15:36.133
So, if you are a public figure, or if you are speaking in public, if you are speaking at a meeting, if you're speaking at an annual meeting, if you're in an interview, you could be a private citizen, but you could be in a public space.
00:15:36.133 --> 00:15:43.111
You could be speaking in a town meeting, you could be saying something on Facebook, whether it's a fan or followers or someone who just knows you.
00:15:43.111 --> 00:15:53.788
Fans, though, they connect to genuine expression, they connect to stories, they connect to vulnerabilities that make celebrities and influencers relatable.
00:15:53.788 --> 00:16:01.787
But yet with this authenticity lies the challenge, the responsibility towards diverse demographics of fans and followers and critics.
00:16:01.787 --> 00:16:14.169
So, in other words, I mean here's the crux so a person's personal beliefs can clash with societal norms and these emerging cultural paradigms and what Neo is bringing up in this apology.
00:16:14.169 --> 00:16:17.299
I have a link in the show notes so you can listen to the entire apology.
00:16:17.990 --> 00:16:25.716
He does actually creep into some common sense because, as he states, you know, everybody has a right to their own opinion.
00:16:25.716 --> 00:16:26.458
They do.
00:16:26.458 --> 00:16:34.003
Everybody has a right to their opinion and everyone has a right to express their opinion wherever they want to express it.
00:16:34.003 --> 00:16:38.774
However, if you do that, you are opening yourself up for the backlash.
00:16:38.774 --> 00:16:47.642
And where people go sideways in my opinion, is in two places Is when they give their opinion.
00:16:47.642 --> 00:16:55.100
They go strongly on their opinion, like the quotes I was just reading with Neo, but it lacks empathy.
00:16:55.100 --> 00:17:05.313
If you give your opinion but you also have equal parts of empathy, you can start to share your opinions and lessen the backlash.
00:17:05.954 --> 00:17:11.952
So a way to handle backlash there is an art to listening, and we're going to call it responsive listening.
00:17:11.952 --> 00:17:15.924
Social media platforms have this immediacy to it.
00:17:15.924 --> 00:17:25.354
So, whether it's a single tweet or an interview or, in this case, a candid interview, these opinions can trigger oh my gosh a tsunami of backlash.
00:17:25.354 --> 00:17:30.971
You'll also get support, but that backlash tsunami usually overwhelms that support.
00:17:30.971 --> 00:17:36.576
So when you're faced with criticism, it's essential to differentiate between constructive feedback and noise.
00:17:37.199 --> 00:17:38.123
Because I have to do this.
00:17:38.123 --> 00:17:39.387
This happens to be on TikTok.
00:17:39.387 --> 00:17:41.856
Whenever I see people just blast me, I just ignore it.
00:17:41.856 --> 00:17:45.069
I look for reasonable people who are explaining something to me.
00:17:45.069 --> 00:17:48.363
Now there is a natural response to be defensive.
00:17:48.363 --> 00:17:51.691
It never works, can I tell you, it never, ever works.
00:17:51.691 --> 00:17:53.438
It exacerbates the situation.
00:17:53.438 --> 00:17:59.923
I've gone down that road where you try to explain yourself and it comes across as defensive and it just doesn't work.
00:17:59.923 --> 00:18:06.252
Even if you're right, even if what you're saying is 100% right, if it seems defensive, people are going to jump on it and they're going to tear you apart.
00:18:06.252 --> 00:18:11.270
Anyway, what you want to practice is responsive listening, and this is what I do on social media.
00:18:12.032 --> 00:18:15.660
What this involves is understanding the root of the concern.
00:18:15.660 --> 00:18:20.659
If you understand the root, you understand the pain point.
00:18:20.659 --> 00:18:23.349
And when you understand the pain point, you understand the hurt.
00:18:23.349 --> 00:18:26.990
And when you understand the hurt, you understand the feelings.
00:18:26.990 --> 00:18:31.465
And when you understand that people's feelings are hurt, you need to make amends.
00:18:31.465 --> 00:18:33.628
Now, even better, before you even speak.
00:18:33.628 --> 00:18:37.142
That's what you have to think about when you say what you're going to say and you believe it.
00:18:37.142 --> 00:18:39.250
You, I believe this.
00:18:39.250 --> 00:18:41.560
But who's going to be hurt by that?
00:18:41.560 --> 00:18:42.586
What's their pain point?
00:18:42.586 --> 00:18:53.415
Now, if it's someone that you know, let's say the pain point is conflicts, people who kill dogs or people who hurt children, then we don't care.
00:18:53.415 --> 00:19:03.587
Right, then you may not care if it hurts, but if you are making a statement to the public and anyone could be in there, and it's a statement about personal beliefs.
00:19:03.587 --> 00:19:10.634
You just have to know you're going to offend someone and you're going to offend more than someone is going to be someone's, it's going to be a group.
00:19:11.277 --> 00:19:17.140
Now, what Neo did, which is worse and how can it be worse is when you walk back and you retract it.
00:19:17.140 --> 00:19:21.516
So when you walk back on a public apology, it does have significant repercussions.
00:19:21.516 --> 00:19:34.338
I mean both for your credibility and just the larger narrative surrounding that incident, because when you apologize for something, you are making a commitment to acknowledging what happened and taking accountability for it.
00:19:34.338 --> 00:19:40.720
You are saying that you understand the impact of your words, your actions and what it meant to others.
00:19:40.720 --> 00:19:44.792
As soon as you retract it, you are undermining that apology.
00:19:44.792 --> 00:19:57.852
So now your message is one of insincerity and it further erodes the most important thing that you need to have in any type of relationship with the public or your stakeholders, and that's trust.
00:19:57.852 --> 00:20:11.948
So in this age of digital media, where every statement is archived, easily accessible, inconsistencies in your communications can be magnified, because you could have a post and someone could still grab it and still play it.
00:20:11.948 --> 00:20:13.165
Sometimes, even on TikTok.
00:20:13.165 --> 00:20:22.963
You could delete a post, but someone will still see the cover page of it, but we'll see that it was deleted and with the backlash and your critics are going to see that you've retracted.
00:20:22.963 --> 00:20:27.459
So now could it be another sign of manipulation or lack of remorse?
00:20:27.459 --> 00:20:32.876
So retracting the apology, it not only diminishes what you said, it completely wipes it away.
00:20:32.876 --> 00:20:34.221
It's all gone.
00:20:34.221 --> 00:20:37.432
It's gone, so you don't want to retract it Now.
00:20:37.471 --> 00:20:38.836
Another caveat I want to add in here.
00:20:38.836 --> 00:20:40.280
It's the woke label.
00:20:40.280 --> 00:20:46.662
This comes up a lot, one of the reasons why Neo retracted the apology.
00:20:46.662 --> 00:20:50.792
I was reading that his critics were saying oh man, you went woke, you went woke.
00:20:50.792 --> 00:21:01.363
Now this idea of woke culture, I think, has just been overblown and it's attached to everything when someone calls for an apology.
00:21:01.363 --> 00:21:24.084
Now, the term if you did not know this, it originates from African American vernacular English, so it originally pointed towards this idea of heightened awareness of social injustice, particularly to people relating to race, but over time it's broadened to encompass all social issues and extreme conservatism.
00:21:24.309 --> 00:21:37.083
I mean, they're using woke all the time and when you use the term woke or when you see it, what it signals is an undermining for inclusivity, equity and understanding in our society.
00:21:37.083 --> 00:21:41.890
So when you say the term woke, it may seem like a throwaway line, but it really isn't.
00:00:00.501 --> 00:00:03.549
00:00:03.549 --> 00:00:11.205
00:00:11.205 --> 00:00:13.044
00:00:13.619 --> 00:00:14.102
00:00:14.102 --> 00:00:15.367
00:00:15.367 --> 00:00:20.106
00:00:20.106 --> 00:00:25.923
00:00:25.923 --> 00:00:26.727
00:00:26.727 --> 00:00:32.923
00:00:32.923 --> 00:00:33.768
00:00:39.000 --> 00:00:48.987
00:00:48.987 --> 00:00:56.567
00:00:56.567 --> 00:01:07.503
00:01:07.503 --> 00:01:27.647
00:01:27.647 --> 00:01:35.308
00:01:35.308 --> 00:01:47.950
00:01:47.950 --> 00:01:53.727
00:01:53.727 --> 00:01:59.242
00:01:59.242 --> 00:02:05.227
00:02:05.227 --> 00:02:12.169
00:02:12.169 --> 00:02:16.382
00:02:16.382 --> 00:02:24.031
00:02:24.031 --> 00:02:25.284
00:02:25.284 --> 00:02:27.486
00:02:27.486 --> 00:02:29.346
00:02:29.346 --> 00:02:33.145
00:02:33.520 --> 00:02:37.246
00:02:37.246 --> 00:02:39.105
00:02:39.105 --> 00:02:46.473
00:02:46.473 --> 00:02:48.586
00:02:48.586 --> 00:02:53.750
00:02:53.750 --> 00:02:55.825
00:02:55.825 --> 00:02:59.788
00:02:59.788 --> 00:03:02.105
00:03:02.105 --> 00:03:04.887
00:03:04.887 --> 00:03:08.664
00:03:08.664 --> 00:03:14.247
00:03:14.247 --> 00:03:16.545
00:03:16.545 --> 00:03:20.804
00:03:20.804 --> 00:03:29.703
00:03:29.703 --> 00:03:31.046
00:03:31.979 --> 00:03:42.828
00:03:42.828 --> 00:03:46.329
00:03:46.329 --> 00:03:48.405
00:03:48.405 --> 00:03:50.140
00:03:50.140 --> 00:04:05.568
00:04:05.568 --> 00:04:18.028
00:04:18.028 --> 00:04:25.661
00:04:25.661 --> 00:04:45.283
00:04:45.283 --> 00:04:45.745
00:04:45.745 --> 00:04:52.586
00:04:52.586 --> 00:04:54.865
00:04:54.865 --> 00:05:00.360
00:05:00.360 --> 00:05:34.379
00:05:34.379 --> 00:05:36.170
00:05:36.370 --> 00:05:48.738
00:05:48.738 --> 00:05:51.218
00:05:51.218 --> 00:05:52.314
00:05:52.314 --> 00:06:01.358
00:06:01.358 --> 00:06:02.774
00:06:02.774 --> 00:06:03.677
00:06:03.677 --> 00:06:06.278
00:06:06.278 --> 00:06:10.721
00:06:10.721 --> 00:06:12.375
00:06:12.375 --> 00:06:15.720
00:06:15.720 --> 00:06:22.233
00:06:22.494 --> 00:06:28.879
00:06:28.879 --> 00:06:33.819
00:06:33.819 --> 00:06:34.762
00:06:34.762 --> 00:06:35.502
00:06:35.502 --> 00:06:45.781
00:06:45.781 --> 00:06:53.702
00:06:53.702 --> 00:06:54.785
00:06:54.785 --> 00:07:03.858
00:07:03.858 --> 00:07:10.821
00:07:10.821 --> 00:07:13.341
00:07:13.341 --> 00:07:21.721
00:07:21.721 --> 00:07:23.026
00:07:23.026 --> 00:07:24.170
00:07:24.170 --> 00:07:24.812
00:07:25.033 --> 00:07:26.860
00:07:26.860 --> 00:07:33.749
00:07:33.749 --> 00:07:42.269
00:07:42.269 --> 00:07:45.062
00:07:45.062 --> 00:07:46.389
00:07:46.531 --> 00:07:48.589
00:07:48.589 --> 00:07:51.310
00:07:51.310 --> 00:07:56.083
00:07:56.083 --> 00:08:03.201
00:08:03.201 --> 00:08:04.250
00:08:05.031 --> 00:08:11.670
00:08:11.689 --> 00:08:14.189
00:08:14.189 --> 00:08:17.021
00:08:17.021 --> 00:08:18.915
00:08:18.915 --> 00:08:20.086
00:08:20.086 --> 00:08:21.750
00:08:21.750 --> 00:08:35.509
00:08:35.509 --> 00:08:36.989
00:08:36.989 --> 00:08:40.629
00:08:40.629 --> 00:08:48.129
00:08:48.129 --> 00:08:52.190
00:08:52.190 --> 00:08:57.764
00:08:57.764 --> 00:09:10.669
00:09:10.669 --> 00:09:17.509
00:09:17.509 --> 00:09:25.965
00:09:26.813 --> 00:09:29.789
00:09:29.789 --> 00:09:35.929
00:09:35.929 --> 00:09:36.985
00:09:36.985 --> 00:09:42.321
00:09:42.321 --> 00:09:44.528
00:09:44.528 --> 00:09:45.820
00:09:45.820 --> 00:09:51.710
00:09:51.710 --> 00:09:53.509
00:09:53.509 --> 00:09:55.470
00:09:55.470 --> 00:09:59.264
00:10:00.186 --> 00:10:11.534
00:10:11.534 --> 00:10:15.975
00:10:15.975 --> 00:10:17.409
00:10:17.409 --> 00:10:18.768
00:10:18.768 --> 00:10:21.054
00:10:21.054 --> 00:10:30.735
00:10:30.735 --> 00:10:33.833
00:10:33.833 --> 00:10:35.931
00:10:35.931 --> 00:10:40.673
00:10:40.673 --> 00:10:41.956
00:10:41.956 --> 00:10:43.032
00:10:43.736 --> 00:10:52.390
00:10:52.390 --> 00:11:16.493
00:11:16.493 --> 00:11:17.395
00:11:17.395 --> 00:11:22.288
00:11:22.288 --> 00:11:23.452
00:11:23.452 --> 00:11:26.452
00:11:26.452 --> 00:11:32.669
00:11:32.669 --> 00:11:41.298
00:11:41.298 --> 00:11:44.293
00:11:44.293 --> 00:11:46.412
00:11:46.412 --> 00:11:52.354
00:11:52.354 --> 00:11:53.889
00:11:53.889 --> 00:12:06.475
00:12:06.475 --> 00:12:17.115
00:12:17.115 --> 00:12:23.912
00:12:25.005 --> 00:12:29.496
00:12:29.496 --> 00:12:34.995
00:12:34.995 --> 00:12:39.345
00:12:39.345 --> 00:12:47.673
00:12:47.673 --> 00:12:48.811
00:12:48.811 --> 00:12:50.730
00:12:50.730 --> 00:13:02.414
00:13:02.414 --> 00:13:04.951
00:13:04.951 --> 00:13:06.590
00:13:06.590 --> 00:13:14.195
00:13:14.195 --> 00:13:18.892
00:13:18.892 --> 00:13:29.649
00:13:29.649 --> 00:13:32.374
00:13:32.374 --> 00:13:36.015
00:13:36.346 --> 00:13:44.192
00:13:44.192 --> 00:13:47.552
00:13:47.552 --> 00:14:00.542
00:14:00.542 --> 00:14:03.552
00:14:03.552 --> 00:14:05.985
00:14:05.985 --> 00:14:11.231
00:14:11.804 --> 00:14:16.245
00:14:16.245 --> 00:14:23.471
00:14:23.471 --> 00:14:24.414
00:14:24.414 --> 00:14:28.511
00:14:28.511 --> 00:14:37.013
00:14:37.013 --> 00:14:39.402
00:14:39.402 --> 00:14:45.952
00:14:45.952 --> 00:14:54.369
00:14:54.369 --> 00:14:55.914
00:14:55.914 --> 00:14:57.009
00:14:57.725 --> 00:15:00.273
00:15:00.273 --> 00:15:03.994
00:15:03.994 --> 00:15:05.971
00:15:05.971 --> 00:15:16.236
00:15:16.236 --> 00:15:22.831
00:15:23.424 --> 00:15:36.133
00:15:36.133 --> 00:15:43.111
00:15:43.111 --> 00:15:53.788
00:15:53.788 --> 00:16:01.787
00:16:01.787 --> 00:16:14.169
00:16:14.169 --> 00:16:17.299
00:16:17.990 --> 00:16:25.716
00:16:25.716 --> 00:16:26.458
00:16:26.458 --> 00:16:34.003
00:16:34.003 --> 00:16:38.774
00:16:38.774 --> 00:16:47.642
00:16:47.642 --> 00:16:55.100
00:16:55.100 --> 00:17:05.313
00:17:05.954 --> 00:17:11.952
00:17:11.952 --> 00:17:15.924
00:17:15.924 --> 00:17:25.354
00:17:25.354 --> 00:17:30.971
00:17:30.971 --> 00:17:36.576
00:17:37.199 --> 00:17:38.123
00:17:38.123 --> 00:17:39.387
00:17:39.387 --> 00:17:41.856
00:17:41.856 --> 00:17:45.069
00:17:45.069 --> 00:17:48.363
00:17:48.363 --> 00:17:51.691
00:17:51.691 --> 00:17:53.438
00:17:53.438 --> 00:17:59.923
00:17:59.923 --> 00:18:06.252
00:18:06.252 --> 00:18:11.270
00:18:12.032 --> 00:18:15.660
00:18:15.660 --> 00:18:20.659
00:18:20.659 --> 00:18:23.349
00:18:23.349 --> 00:18:26.990
00:18:26.990 --> 00:18:31.465
00:18:31.465 --> 00:18:33.628
00:18:33.628 --> 00:18:37.142
00:18:37.142 --> 00:18:39.250
00:18:39.250 --> 00:18:41.560
00:18:41.560 --> 00:18:42.586
00:18:42.586 --> 00:18:53.415
00:18:53.415 --> 00:19:03.587
00:19:03.587 --> 00:19:10.634
00:19:11.277 --> 00:19:17.140
00:19:17.140 --> 00:19:21.516
00:19:21.516 --> 00:19:34.338
00:19:34.338 --> 00:19:40.720
00:19:40.720 --> 00:19:44.792
00:19:44.792 --> 00:19:57.852
00:19:57.852 --> 00:20:11.948
00:20:11.948 --> 00:20:13.165
00:20:13.165 --> 00:20:22.963
00:20:22.963 --> 00:20:27.459
00:20:27.459 --> 00:20:32.876
00:20:32.876 --> 00:20:34.221
00:20:34.221 --> 00:20:37.432
00:20:37.471 --> 00:20:38.836
00:20:38.836 --> 00:20:40.280
00:20:40.280 --> 00:20:46.662
00:20:46.662 --> 00:20:50.792
00:20:50.792 --> 00:21:01.363
00:21:01.363 --> 00:21:24.084
00:21:24.309 --> 00:21:37.083
00:21:37.083 --> 00:21:41.890