Lying to Your PR Team: The Fastest Way to Dig Your Own Grave

If there’s one thing that can destroy a crisis PR strategy faster than the scandal itself, it’s a client who lies. Trust between a client and their PR team is essential, and when that trust is broken, the entire strategy falls apart. Unfortunately, I’ve seen it happen—clients who are so desperate to fix their image that they distort the truth, hoping to manipulate the narrative. But in the world of crisis PR, lies have a way of coming to light, and when they do, they make everything worse.

A Real-Life Example: When the Story Didn’t Add Up
One client came to me with what seemed like a heartbreaking story. He claimed that during the period when he was outed for inappropriate behaviour, he had experienced severe hardships—homelessness, racism, and more. On our first call, he was in tears, and I believed him. It was truly heartbreaking, and at the time, I thought I was dealing with someone who had been unjustly vilified by people on social media and in the press. This is when I realised just how talented some people are at acting/lying - I can’t even lie about eating the last slice of pizza.

As part of my research, the client gave me permission to access his Instagram account, allowing me to explore it freely. He had claimed to be homeless and struggling during the time when disturbing footage of him had surfaced, insisting he was desperate. However, as I looked through his archived images, I uncovered a very different story. There were luxury holiday photos, snapshots of him living extravagantly during the same period he claimed to be homeless. He had also posted teasing images aimed at obtaining more "clients" during this time—this was far from the image of hardship he had painted for me during our initial call.

It was astonishing to see the contrast between his claims of being hard done by and the reality of his luxurious lifestyle. The more I uncovered, the clearer it became that his story was built on lies, and he had hoped I would create a PR plan to help him without ever realising I was being deceived.

The Deeper Deceit
He had also told me he had stopped engaging in the inappropriate behaviour that had led to his public downfall. Yet, when I accessed his social media accounts (with his permission), I found evidence that this behaviour was still happening. He even asked me to go through his DMs, claiming he couldn’t bear to see the hate messages he was receiving. But what he seemed to forget—or perhaps thought I wouldn’t notice—was that I could see his ongoing interactions with “clients,” not only related to the inappropriate behaviour he was trying to cover up, but also containing incredibly racist messages.

I’ll never forget that unsettling moment of realisation—just days before, I had hugged him for five minutes while he cried, thinking it was because of the hardships he had faced. In reality, his tears were out of fear that his public career was falling apart and that he’d been caught out. The entire situation was a web of deceit, and discovering that he had been lying to me from the start was one of the most disturbing experiences I’ve had in my career.

It was a sharp shift from feeling sympathy and a desire to help to realising that I had been completely manipulated. The entire PR plan he had wanted me to execute was built on lies, and had I not done my due diligence, I would have unknowingly become part of his deception.

Why Lying Will Always Backfire
In crisis PR, honesty is non-negotiable. I’m not judgmental—everyone makes mistakes, and I genuinely believe that if you’re truthful with me, I can help navigate the situation. Of course, that doesn’t apply when the behaviour crosses certain lines, like the blatant racism I encountered with this past client. Lying only digs a deeper hole. When clients are transparent from the start, it gives them peace of mind knowing that their lies won’t come back to haunt them. My goal is to provide a safe space for clients to speak openly, without fear of judgment. But when that trust is broken, it complicates everything—not only does it damage their reputation further, but it undermines the entire PR strategy.

When clients lie, they’re digging their own grave. The internet doesn’t forget, and sooner or later, someone will connect the dots. Crisis management is already a delicate balancing act, but when the foundation is built on falsehoods, it’s only a matter of time before the entire structure collapses. The irony is, if they’d told the truth, the situation could have been handled with far less damage.

Lessons Learned
This experience taught me a hard lesson about trust. While it’s natural to want to believe your client, especially when they are emotional or distressed, it’s crucial to approach every case with a critical eye. I believed this client on the first call because his story was compelling, and his tears were convincing. But as I dug deeper, I realised that my sympathy had been misplaced.

In crisis PR, it’s essential to verify every claim, every timeline, and every story, no matter how convincing it seems at first. Trust is vital, but so is doing the due diligence to ensure that trust is warranted. I’ve since developed a much more rigorous process for assessing clients, because as much as I want to help, I need to make sure I’m working with the truth—not a fabricated version of it.