Pitt-Jolie Romance "Deftly" Handled by Actors' PR Reps, Prof. Kevin Howley Tells Houston Chronicle

January 18, 2006

January 18, 2006, Greencastle, Ind. - A Houston Chronicle analysis of the way publicists for Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie have handled the movie stars' very public romance and impending parenthood includes analysis from a DePauw professor. "What's striking, said Kevin Howley, a professor at DePauw University, 'is how deftly the PR pros are shifting attention away from the transgressions surrounding the couple's early romance, with its emphasis on infidelity and unbridled passions, to the more sedate and domestic emphasis on legitimacy and child-rearing.'"

The story, by Eyder Peralta, looks into how the Pitt-Jolie romance -- which began with the break-up of Pitt's marriage to Jennifer Aniston and led to the recent announcement that Jolie is pregnant with Pitt's child -- has played out in the press and the public. "When Angelina Jolie's pregnant belly appeared on the cover of People magazine this week, it capped a long-running narrative released to the media bit by bit. What's impressive about it is just how paced and nonscurrilous it's been. Compare it to the TomKat debacle, which ended with Tom Cruise firing his sister/publicist," Peralta writes.

Read the complete article at the newspaper's Web site.

Dr. Howley, assistant professor of communication and theatre at DePauw University, will have his documentary, Victory At Sea?: Culture Jamming Dubya, presented at the 2006 Central States Communication Association convention, to be held in Indianapolis April 5-9, 2006.  Learn more in this previous story.

Source: Houston Chronicle

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