In the News–The Media
Kiss-Cam Incident a Stark Reminder for Boards — and CEOs — That ‘Wink-Wink’ Days Are Over
Lindsay Frost, Agenda, August 11, 2025
Social media erupted last month when footage at a Coldplay concert revealed that tech company Astronomer CEO Andy Byron was having an intimate moment with Chief People Officer Kristin Cabot. But such an incident is not isolated.
Between Jan. 1, 2017, and July 20, 2025, there were 44 CEOs at Russell 3000 companies who left related to misconduct allegations, seven of which were linked to employee relationships, according to an Exechange analysis of CEO departures. Both Byron and Cabot stepped down shortly after the video made waves.
Social media and heightened employee scrutiny have made these incidents more public and thus created a bigger impact on company reputation, sources told Agenda. For boards, it’s increasingly important not only to ensure the CEO is aware of and signs policies related to employee relationships and codes of conduct broadly, but also to have strong communications, succession and other mitigation plans in place to take charge of and restore stakeholder faith in the company if such an event occurs.
“We are in a transition from the ‘wink-wink, nod-nod, just don’t let us catch you’ period to now saying, ‘If we ask our people to abide by these rules, we have to abide by them, too,'” said Davia Temin, president and CEO of management consultancy Temin and Company Inc. And it’s up to the board to lead this effort, she added. […read more]
CEO Bravado Risks ‘Trivializing’ Geopolitical Crisis
Frederic Lee, Agenda, August 9, 2024
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has found a new potential opponent in the ring in Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro, who challenged Musk to a matchup after the billionaire questioned Maduro’s proclaimed victory in his country’s recent presidential election.
The back-and-forth amounts to theatrical gamesmanship and telegraphed testosterone — similar to last year’s much-hyped showdown between Musk and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg — Davia Temin, president and CEO of management consultancy Temin and Company Inc., told Agenda. Yet Musk has now gone “way beyond that” in his new situation involving the Venezuelan election.
Business leaders need to take great care in terms of the weight of their words, said Temin. In the intense current geopolitical environment, it’s a time for deliberation, moderation and “trying to cool things down — not heat them up.” Boards need to think through their positions before going public with them, she said. […read more]
Crowdstrike CEO George Kurtz Made PR Blunder With Late Apology
Matthew Boyle, Bloomberg, July 19, 2024
CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. Chief Executive Officer George Kurtz co-wrote a book that’s commonly referred to as the bible of computer security. When it comes to crisis management, though, he’s on shakier ground.
In a post on social media platform X early Friday morning about a botched software update that crashed countless computer systems globally, Kurtz made clear the incident was not a cyberattack, his firm had identified the problem, and deployed a “fix.” What he didn’t say — at least at first — was the magic phrase that public-relations experts advise all businesses to shout from the rooftops at times like this: “I’m sorry.”
“A CEO needs a nuanced and emotionally truthful response,” said Davia Temin, founder and CEO of crisis-communications firm Temin & Co. “This is a response scrubbed by a legal team with lawsuits in mind. It holds little to no accountability, which is what makes apologies so powerful. And it positions Kurtz almost as an AI voice — automated, soulless. In fact, ChatGPT does a better job of appearing to care than he does.” […read more]
Sexual Harassment Reports in Steep Decline After #MeToo Peak
Jeff Green, Bloomberg, June 17, 2019
Public accusations of corporate misbehavior and harassment have fallen to their lowest level since October 2017, when allegations against movie producer Harvey Weinstein sparked the #MeToo movement.
Twelve complaints generated media coverage in May compared with a peak of 143 last October, according to data compiled by crisis consultant Temin and Co.
There are lots of reasons the pace of allegations has slowed, said Davia Temin. The initial outpouring included decades worth of historical revelations, clearing a kind of backlog. The news cycle has also moved on, and companies have gotten more sophisticated in the way they manage both bad behavior and negative PR. […read more]
Is Wells Fargo stuck in the denial stage of recovery?
Kate Berry, American Banker, April 7, 2019
Since Wells Fargo’s phony-accounts scandal broke in 2016, the bank’s public and private reactions have diverged significantly.
After an initial bout of blame directed at the thousands of employees who opened the fake accounts in an effort to meet aggressive sales goals, the bank pivoted to a public position of contrition, saying it was dedicated to fixing its corporate culture to ensure nothing like that could happen again. That line was offered by then-CEO Tim Sloan last month when he testified to Congress, in which he said the bank had made significant progress in atoning for its mistakes.
Yet in private, bank executives and many rank-and-file employees have taken the view that the bank’s problems are largely not of its own making and have been overblown by overbearing regulators, scoop-hungry reporters, hostile members of Congress, and a system that has put its actions under an (unfair) microscope.
In short, the bank has appeared to be in denial that it has a problem at all, some argue.
“Denial is one of the hardest issues for a company to address after a crisis,” said Davia Temin, president and CEO of management consulting firm Temin and Company. “It’s not over just because Wells is ready for it to be over.” […read more]
Jeff Bezos: Extortion and Embarrassing Photos Won’t Distract Me
Spencer Soper and Jeff Green, Bloomberg, February 8, 2019
Jeff Bezos pre-empting the National Enquirer by laying bare embarrassing personal details may have been the easier task. Now the world’s wealthiest man needs to convince investors that locking horns with a powerful American media organization won’t end up hurting Amazon.com Inc. itself.
Bezos, Amazon’s single largest shareholder, stunned the industry Thursday night when he accused the Enquirer of trying to blackmail him, publishing tense exchanges with the magazine that included prurient details of his relationship with former TV anchor Lauren Sanchez. The saga now threatens to snowball, exerting even more pressure on a billionaire who already oversees the biggest online retailer, a space exploration company and a leading national news outlet.
For now, investors have shrugged off news of his personal life as unimportant to the value of the company, which posted revenue of $233 billion last year and a record-breaking holiday season. Now that Bezos has twice jumped in front of embarrassing news, the challenge is in maintaining the perception he can focus on his company’s growth.
“Bezos is that extraordinary, and Amazon is that extraordinary, that he can bring down a bully,” said Davia Temin, founder of the New York based crisis-consultant Temin and Co. “He’s got the courage, and the position as the richest man in the United States, and I think his courage in standing up to the extortion is going to outweigh the details behind the extortion.” […read more]
Les Moonves, The Most Powerful CEO To Face #MeToo, Is Winning. So Far.
Emily Peck, Huffington Post, August 19, 2018
It’s been more than three weeks since The New Yorker published Ronan Farrow’s damning article on Les Moonves, the longtime chief executive of CBS. The allegations were horrifying.
For all the hype about how the Me Too movement is taking down powerful men, nearly a third of the most high-profile executives and celebrities accused of misconduct since 2015 haven’t lost their jobs, according to data compiled by New York crisis consulting firm Temin & Co.
Temin started tracking this back when women were coming forward with accusations against comedian Bill Cosby, but the movement really gained speed in the fall of 2017, after the Weinstein allegations came to light. In all, the firm says, 483 executives and celebrities have been accused publicly, which it measures by being mentioned in at least seven major publications. Of that number, 144 have not experienced any professional fallout ― yet. That includes Trump, Moonves and Jeff Fager, the “60 Minutes” executive producer. Some may be under investigation.
At least four have already made comebacks, according to Temin. […read more]
The big picture: #MeToo has exposed hundreds of high-profile people
Haley Britzky, Axios, July 7, 2018
More than 400 high-profile executives and employees from across the professional spectrum have been brought down by the #MeToo movement in the last 18 months, Bloomberg reports.
The big picture: While #MeToo isn’t dominating headlines the way it was last year, the movement has still been at work behind the scenes. Davia Temin, whose firm Temin & Co. conducted the study cited by Bloomberg, said that while the accusation rate “has been slowing … the percentage of people being fired has increased.” […read more]
Hundreds of Business Leaders Face Accusations in #MeToo Movement
NACD Weekend Reader, June 30, 2018
A new reports finds the #MeToo movement over the last 18 months has opened the door to allegations against 417 high-profile employees and corporate executives, Bloomberg reports. The majority of those individuals are business leaders and executives—410 of them are men—from a wide array of industries, according to the report by crisis consulting firm Temin & Co.
Many of the allegations stem from incidents that happened years ago, but have only recently come to light. And while the rate of accusations has slowed recently, the percentage of individuals fired has increased.
“It started to become a tsunami, certainly after [Harvey] Weinstein, and it sparked other stories in the same industry and then across all industries,” said Davia Temin, president and CEO of Temin & Co. “I think it’s settled into a new plateau, but it is certainly higher than we’ve ever had before.”
Of the 417 high-profile individuals who were accused of issues related to sexual harassment, racial insensitivity, or other misconduct, 193 were fired, and 122 were either suspended, put on leave, or are having their actions investigated. […read more]
#MeToo Snares More Than 400 High-Profile People
Jeff Green, Bloomberg, June 25, 2018
At least 414 high-profile executives and employees across fields and industries have been outed by the #MeToo Movement in 18 months, according to data collected by a New York-based crisis consulting firm.
The study looked at national news articles that singled out people for sexual harassment or other similar misdeeds, said Davia Temin, whose firm Temin & Co. did the research. Individuals with at least seven separate, national mentions were included. That includes celebrities like Bill Cosby and Louis CK, but the vast majority are corporate executives and business leaders like Intel CEO Brian Krzanich, who resigned late last week after revelations of an affair with an employee. […read more]
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