The Lies They Tell
Flacks are allowed to hedge, prevaricate, stall, mumble, disappear, and spin, as the case warrants. But no matter how much of a scumbag their client is, they're not allowed to actually lie. It's just bad for business. The definition of a lie has to be loose, or PR wouldn't exist. But sometimes they just pop right out. Like when Kirsten Dunst's rep told Page Six "Kirsten is fine," less than a week before she went to rehab. Sometimes a "technical" truth is still a lie, like when that Interview flack assured us that editor Ingrid Sischy had definitely not left the mag. Although she did two weeks later. And sometimes flacks just rotely lie like robots, like Time Warner's "Don't look behind the curtain" Danielle Perissi. So what we want are your experiences: Which flacks have lied to you? Or, which have told the biggest lies you've ever heard, excluding White House spokespeople? Send tips here. And after the jump, the five most common lies flacks tell reporters. They almost don't even COUNT by now.
"He's in a meeting."
"That's a great question."
"So good to see you."
"I really don't know."
Anything preceded by the word "candidly."