publi-cysts

Soul-Selling Publicist Howard Bragman Hates It When People Speak Honestly About Him

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It should be noted Howard Bragman, the gay publicist, has done much good for the gays. He’s orchestrated the comings out of folks like Meredith Baxter, John Amaechi, and Sheryl Swoopes, creating a media friendly environment for these folks to reveal what had for so long remained a (sometimes not well-kept) secret. For his latest client, Chely Wright, Bragman delivered arguably the most buzzed-about coming out in history, turning Wright into a household name by being gay when she wasn’t even that as an assumed-to-be-straight person. But Bragman is also the guy who’s been pocketing cash from terrible people like hotelier Doug Manchester, the Prop 8 supporter; it’s been Bragman’s job to woo back the gay dollars to a guy who donated six-figures to rape California’s gays of marriage equality. So Bragman has got his skeletons, which aren’t really in a closet — but he hates when you discuss them. Like Ben Harvey and Dave Rubin did on the Six Pack.

In the latest episode of the radio show, B&D reveal what’s been going on behind the scenes between them and Bragman, who arranged for Wright to sit for an interview with them. Just as he had done for the Today show, The Advocate, and a million other places. But then Bragman pulled rank, criticizing Harvey and Rubin for speaking frankly about how Bragman’s bungled Wright reveal angered much of the Hollywood press corps; he got them the interview, so shouldn’t they owe him? Or so his thinking goes.

(This website isn’t completely removed from the debate, as Ben and Dave say Bragman called out Queerty for inaccurate information — complaints he never shared with us. But maybe he’s just unhappy because Queerty revealed Wright’s identity ahead of time and before anyone else.)

And how. It must be frustrating to be in the business of shaping news coverage and unable to shape news coverage about yourself.

Well, here’s the new episode of Six Pack, with an interview with GLAAD’s Jarrett Barrios, and it’s actually quite nice.

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Listen to the new podcast above, subscribe via iTunes, and check our their archives at BenDave.com. Queerty is pleased to power the Six Pack‘s Top To Bottom.

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