I must admit that I was surprised to find out that Elliot Mintz is a publicist. I was somewhat aware of his association with John and Yoko in the late-70s and up through Lennon’s death, but didn’t make the connection that he was, actually, well … their publicist. Probably because my reference point for Mintz goes back farther.
As a teenager, I listened to him every Sunday evening on KPPC-FM, one of the leading underground stations in the nation, broadcasting out of Pasadena through the early 1970s. At the time, I knew of his friendship with rebel par excellence, Sal Mineo, who starred opposite James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause, though was unaware that he was also Mineo’s publicist.
All of this gave Elliot Mintz “street cred” in my books … and I guess, unaware of new chapters in his professional practice as a publicist, that romanticized picture of him remained largely unchanged in my mind over the years. Until I read the other day in Mark Rose’s post Shoot the Publicist! that Elliot Mintz also happens to be the publicist of none other than … Paris Hilton. What a let down!
Rose writes that as part of his p.r. work for Paris, Elliot Mintz ‘ … shielded her, distanced her from stupid comments by Brandon Davis about Lindsay Lohan, had us actually believing that Paris was like a big sister to Britney, and he came up with the absurd explanation for the white substance seen on Paris’ nose as a ”stray dessert.”’
May I repeat, what a let-down! Actually, I was also a bit let down by what appeared to be the apparent continued romanticization of Mintz by Rose, a p.r. professional who has spared no criticism in the past of the likes of Wal-Mart and Edelman & Co. for unethical dalliances. I was therefore relieved to see Rose’s subsequent post (great headline, by the way!): Flack Back Mintzing Words And Parsing Truth for Paris.
So, another icon of my youth has tumbled before my very eyes. With apologies to Herman Melville, let me just sigh … ‘Ah, Elliot! Ah, humanity!’
Then again, as Paris might say, ‘Hey … I’m over it, already.’
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9 May, 2007 at 4:18 pm
Dreams die hard, some harder than others. My only frame of reference for Mintz is his almost daily spin around the heiress Queen so I can’t imagine him being close to Lennon or Sal Mineo. A good lawyer is not supposed to care if their client is a mass murderer or not (I just watched “Judgement at Nuremberg”) to mount a credible, professional defense. PR is an odd profession. Sometimes I find myself admiring the truly devious and duplicitous – in that way Elliot Mintz is kind of like Dick Cheney. They are master PR people. I am sure that Mintz makes Paris infinitely more altruistic, magnanimous, stable and mature than she really is. He’s worth the world to her. Better than an expensive lawyer, apparently.
14 May, 2007 at 4:11 pm
Michael,
Saw your response on Elliott Mintz on John Stoddard’s “From the Desert to the Sea” blog. Mintz was indeed a character, even back in the late 60’s and early 70’s. The mention of KPPC radio brought back great memories. (the best FM, ever!) Funny you mentioned Phil and Dave Alvin. I had the opportunity to do blues jams with them a several times before the Blasters. Small world isn’t it. The idea of Elliott as Paris Hilton’s publicist just cracks me up. Strange the different directions life takes us.