Just a few weeks ago, I found myself writing Bethenny Frankel and Jason Hoppy a congratulations note on their marriage. They were a couple of the most grounded, funny, and genuine people I had the pleasure of working with and their love glow blew me away at our first meeting.
I digress.
I used to be an entertainment publicist. All the celebrities who came through the social scene were my clients. I arranged interviews for local media outlets and called up my girls at Us Weekly or Life & Style to dish out the scoop after my clients left town. It paid the bills and it was an experience I grew up wanting. My “dream job” was in entertainment journalism. So many people asked me about every celebrity after I’d work with them and I realized I should put a few experiences down on paper. Working as an entertainment publicist was tough. The hours were cruel; my clients would show up around midnight and stay out until 5 a.m. Being an outsider to the world of celebrity, however, consistently taught me so much about the entire concept of fame versus living a fulfilled life in the “real world.”
The first celebrity I met was Carmen Electra and she was so sweet and so shy. Her sex-bomb persona in the public eye is completely different than the Carmen I met. I remember telling her she looked beautiful and she responded with, “Really? Thank you! That’s so nice of you to say. Wow.” I wasn’t sure if she was truly that shy or if she was so used to being torn apart in Los Angeles that she wasn’t familiar with compliments.
I won’t list every celebrity but a few more that are notable are Paris Hilton, Bethenny Frankel, and the Kardashian sisters.
Paris was an entirely different species. I honestly didn’t have any respect for the girl before I met her. She is so used to the spotlight that she’s not fazed by anything else. She walked into the nightclub the evening I worked with her and her boyfriend, Doug, like she was on a catwalk. At any moment, she was ready for the camera. When we got to the private area before walking into the club, however, she was just another girl laughing with her friends. No baby voice. No ridiculous terminology like, “loves it” or “huge.” Just laughter and smiles. The very obvious difference between Paris and the girls on the other side of the door, in the club, was Paris’s genuine happiness. I’ve never seen someone just radiate confidence and total bliss for no reason at all. Girlfriend loves life. And why shouldn’t she? Her skin was like something out of a Disney Princess fairy tale. It was flawless. Makeup might have played some part, but I’ll never forget noticing how impeccable it was. It glowed from across the room.
Anyways, later in the night I had a brief conversation with her. I didn’t expect much when I initiated some chit-chat but I got more than I thought I would. I complimented her on the purse she was carrying and she mentioned how it was from her new purse line. She told me all about the line, from where they were selling it to the different countries she’d been to promote it. She was a businesswoman who knew her brand.
Bethenny Frankel was my favorite client. She did every interview that I was asked to schedule and gave more than enough when she answered questions. She quickly became friends with each reporter and everyone remembered how well she treated them. That night, Bethenny was stunning in a Herve Ledger dress. When asked for our picture together, I was simply acting like myself and said, “Augh, you look great! I’m going to look awful next to you!” She responded with “Are you freaking kidding me? You’re gorgeous. Now say cheese.” I loved her for her grounded personality already! Then I met her fiancé and was blown away by how awesome he was. He helped me out by letting me know where Bethenny was if she wandered off to take fan pictures. He asked if it was okay for them to sit somewhere and he made an effort to blaze through the crowd with his Bethenny so that they could hug me goodbye. They made my job so easy!
