CNN ANCHOR
[There have] been all kinds of celebrity scandals around the world lately, and yet, those very celebrities seemed to have remained popular with their fans. So the question is, how do people, like Michael Jackson and, say, Paris Hilton, stay in the public's good graces? Michael Okwu posed that very question to a celebrity image consultant.

MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT
These are the images most associated with Hollywood celebrity: unbridled glamor, red-carpet glitz--images that can make careers. It's a long way from this, or this, or this. But while some celebrities forever remain tainted by scandal, others survive--even thrive from their reported transgressions.

Charlotte Parker is an image consultant who has in the past represented stars, like Arnold Schwarzenegger.

CHARLOTTE PARKER, CELEBRITY IMAGE CONSULTANT
The thing is that you want to immediately come in, and you want to take responsibility for what you did.

MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT
For weeks, the name Paris Hilton was associated with, well, a bootleg sex tape. She managed to parlay the publicity into prime-time success and [a] potential entertainment deal worth millions. Parker says Hilton's looks certainly didn't hurt, and needling herself on Saturday Night Live was just plain savvy.

EXCERPT FROM SATURDAY NIGHT LIVE
Is it hard to get into the Paris Hilton?

CHARLOTTE PARKER, CELEBRITY IMAGE CONSULTANT
People particularly like self-deprecating humor. When someone can make fun of themselves, that is a marvelous quality, and people relate to that, and they love it.

MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT
Hugh Grant followed that rule on The Tonight Show after soliciting a prostitute in 1995.

EXCERPT FROM THE TONIGHT SHOW
I did a bad thing, and there you have it.

MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT
Our expert says showing remorse is key.

CHARLOTTE PARKER, CELEBRITY IMAGE CONSULTANT
If you own up to making a mistake, people will forgive you. On the other hand, I think that where people suffer is when they, they're silent.

MICHAEL OKWU, CNN CORRESPONDENT
Parker points to Pee-Wee Herman whose career, she says, may never have fully recovered or George Michael who released this self-mocking video a full seven months after he was arrested for engaging in sex acts in a public restroom.

But sometimes, Parker says, celebrities are hamstrung when their legal advice says deny the charge and just be quiet. Winona Ryder couldn't very well be contrite for shoplifting while claiming her innocence. And the public does have limits. Kobe Bryant facing sex charges and Michael Jackson's charges on child molestation, even if never proven, will test those limits. The priority then isn't staying on the red carpet; it's staying out of jail.

CNN 主播
最近全世界充斥著各式各樣的名人醜聞。但是，那些名人似乎仍舊受到迷哥迷妹們的歡迎。所以問題是，像麥可．傑克森和帕莉絲．希爾頓這樣的人，是如何繼續博取社會大眾的歡心呢？麥可．歐克伍要向名人形象顧問討教這個問題。

CNN 特派員 麥可．歐克伍
狂野的魅力、紅地毯的光芒，這些最會讓人聯想到好萊塢名人的形象，一些可以成就事業的形象。這些和這個、這個、或這個相去十萬八千里。雖然有些名人因醜聞而永遠背負著污名，但也有些逃過了一劫，甚至因他們的逾矩行為被報導而大紅大紫。

夏洛蒂．帕克是一位形象顧問，她過去的客戶曾包括阿諾．史瓦辛格等明星。
形象顧問 夏洛蒂．帕克
重點在於你非立刻出面承認不可，你要為自己的所作所為負責。

CNN 特派員 麥可．歐克伍
幾個星期以來，帕莉絲．希爾頓這個名字都和一卷偷拍性愛錄影帶扯上關係。她利用她的知名度成功進駐黃金時段，並可能取得價值數百萬美元的演藝合約。帕克表示希爾頓的外貌肯定不差，在《周末夜現場》節目中自嘲則是高招。

《周末夜現場》片段
帕莉絲．希爾頓（音同「巴黎希耳頓飯店」）的門禁森嚴嗎？
形象顧問 夏洛蒂．帕克
人們尤其喜歡自我貶抑式的幽默。一個人若能自嘲，就是種了不起的特質，人們可心領神會，他們喜歡這樣。

CNN 特派員 麥可．歐克伍
休．葛蘭在一九九五年召妓之後，便在《今夜》中採用了這個法則。

《今夜》片段
我是做了件壞事，事情就是這樣。

CNN 特派員 麥可．歐克伍
我們的專家表示，表現出悔意是關鍵所在。
形象顧問 夏洛蒂．帕克
如果你自己招認犯了錯，人們就會原諒你。反之，如果你保持緘默，就會承受苦果。

CNN 特派員 麥可．歐克伍
帕克舉出實例證明其說法，像是皮．威．赫曼，或是喬治．麥可在公廁發生性行為被捕後整整七個月，才出了一卷自嘲的錄影帶，他們的事業恐怕永遠無法完全恢復。

帕克表示，但有時名人也束手無策，因為他們的法律顧問要他們否認指控並保持緘默。薇諾娜．瑞德自稱無罪，便不能算是對順手牽羊一事有所悔悟，而民眾的忍耐有其限度。面對性犯罪指控的柯比．布萊恩，和面對猥褻幼童罪名的麥可．傑克森，即便永遠沒被證實有罪，也將測試大眾的忍耐限度。屆時的首要之務將不會是如何繼續維持名氣不墜，而是要如何才能避免鋃鐺入獄。


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