Sitrick and Company

In October 2009, Sitrick and Company, with restructuring firm Brincko Associates, were acquired by Deloitte spin-off Resources Connection Inc., which had 2,700 employees, in a combined cash and stock deal worth $43.3 million. Sitrick and Company then had 45 staff members, who were largely former journalists of the Los Angeles Times, The Wall Street Journal, and other media organizations.{{citation|url=https://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2009/10/29/breaking-news-resources-buys-pr-firm-sitrick-and-company/|periodical=Wall Street Journal|title=Breaking News: Resources Buys P.R. Firm Sitrick and Company|date=2009-10-29|accessdate=2011-09-09}} The two purchased firms had a combined revenue of $24.4 million, in 2008, according to Resources Connection. The purchase combined the two subsidiaries as Sitrick Brincko Group. LLC.{{citation|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/sitrick-idUSN2938366320091030|periodical=Reuters|date=2009-10-30|accessdate=2011-09-09|title=Consulting firm Resources Connection to buy Sitrick, Brincko|last=Wahba|first=Phil|last2=Daga|first2=Anshuman}} Mike Sitrick continued as head of the Sitrick and Company subsidiary after its purchase by Deloitte.{{citation|url=http://www.bizjournals.com/losangeles/stories/2009/10/26/daily33.html|title=Resources buys P.R. firm Sitrick And Company|date=2009-10-30|accessdate=2011-09-09|periodical=Los Angeles Business Journal}}

In 2010, two former employees filed suit in federal court regarding Sitrick's buyout of the Employee Share Ownership Plan's holdings in the company during 2008, shortly prior to the Resources Connection deal; the suit alleged that Sitrick paid an unreasonably low price for the ESOP's stake, causing losses to the former employees.{{citation|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-jun-02-la-fi-0602-hiltzik2-20100602-story.html|periodical=Los Angeles Times|date=2010-06-02|access-date=2011-09-09|title=Michael Sitrick could use some crisis-management advice|last=Hiltzik|first=Michael}} Sitrick responded in court documents that an independent trustee, which had its own financial advisor and lawyers, had negotiated the price, and the case settled shortly after, with insurance companies providing settlement funds.{{cite web|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/idUS429310119020111202 |title=Crisis PR Guru Michael Sitrick Settles Employee Stock Option Suit |website=reuters.com|date=2011-12-02 |accessdate=2017-05-15}}

Sitrick and Company is known for its handling of famous, or controversial, clients. In 2009, it was estimated to have had 1000 clients.{{cite web|url=http://everything-pr.com/michael-sitrick-and-company/|title=Michael Sitrick of Sitrick and Company: The Spin Doctor - PR|date=21 July 2015|publisher=}} Its work earned Sitrick the title of "the king of crisis PR",{{citation|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2006-oct-21-fi-sitrick21-story.html|periodical=JoLos Angeles Times |date=2006-10-21|access-date=2011-09-09|last=Christensen|first=Kim|title=PR Guru's Public Spat Over a Debt}} and its founder, Sitrick, has been widely referenced as a "fixer".{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=11507815|title=Hilton's New Expert on Managing Star Crises|website=NPR.org}}{{Cite web|url=https://financialpost.com/news/fp-street/meet-michael-sitrick-the-fixer-you-call-when-your-reputation-is-on-the-line|title=Meet Michael Sitrick: The ‘fixer’ you call when your reputation is on the line | Financial Post|date=October 19, 2013}}{{Cite web|url=https://mondaymorningradio.wordpress.com/2018/03/26/ceos-celebrities-and-politicians-turn-to-one-man-when-their-reputations-are-on-the-line/|title=CEOs, Celebrities, and Politicians Turn to One Man When Their Reputations Are on the Line|date=March 26, 2018}}

In 2002, David Duchovny hired the firm to represent him to the media in his dispute with 20th Century Fox, regarding breach of contract relating to his work on The X-Files television show.{{cite web|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-may-30-me-flack30-story.html |title=L.A. Archdiocese Enlists Services of Top PR Firm |website=latimes.com |date=2002-05-30 |access-date=2017-05-15}} Sitrick and Company arranged for a feature in Forbes regarding Fox's vertical monopoly, to pressure Fox to settle with Duchovny.{{citation needed|date=May 2017}}

The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Los Angeles hired the firm, in 2012, regarding the diocese's sexual abuse scandal.{{citation|periodical=Los Angeles Times|title=L.A. Archdiocese Enlists Services of Top PR Firm|date=2002-05-30| access-date=2011-09-09|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2002-may-30-me-flack30-story.html|last=Hall|first=Carla}}

Sitrick advised Roy E. Disney and Stanley Gold in the orchestration of their campaign to remove Michael Eisner as chairman of Walt Disney, in 2003. The campaign led to 43 percent of Disney shareholders withholding their support from Eisner, who later stepped down voluntarily."{{citation|url=http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/207df596-314b-11df-9741-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1Z5Eng3ol|periodical=Financial Times |date=2010-03-16|accessdate=2011-09-26|last=Garrahan|first=Matthew|title=The spin doctor of restructuring}}

In 2006, Hewlett-Packard (HP) and its departing chairwoman Patricia C. Dunn hired the firm to handle media relations regarding HP's 2006 leak-investigation crisis.{{citation|url=http://www.prweekus.com/pages/login.aspx?returl=/hp-taps-sitrick-company-as-crisis-grows/article/55601/&pagetypeid=28&articleid=55601&accesslevel=2&expireddays=0&accessAndPrice=0|title=HP Taps Sitrick & Company as crisis grows |date=2006-09-12 |accessdate=2011-09-10|last=Altus|first=Celest|periodical=PRWeek}}

Paris Hilton used the company's services after she was released from a brief stay in jail.

Steven Page, of Barenaked Ladies, hired the firm in 2008, following his drug arrest.{{cite news |first1 = Nicholas | last1 = Köhler | first2 = Cathy | last2 = Gulli |title= Barenaked Mess |url=http://www.macleans.ca/culture/media/article.jsp?content=20080723_87241_87241 |work=Maclean's |date= 2008-07-23 |accessdate=2008-08-16}}

Medicis Pharmaceutical CEO Jonah Shacknai hired the firm, following the 2011 death of Rebecca Zahau.{{citation|url=http://www.bnet.com/blog/drug-business/ceo-shacknai-wields-small-army-against-speculation-on-death-of-his-girlfriend/9609|last=Edwards|first=Jim|title=CEO Shacknai Wields Small Army Against Speculation on Death of His Girlfriend|date=2011-09-08|accessdate=2011-09-09|periodical=CBS BNET}}

In late January 2013, it was revealed that the firm had been hired by Papa John’s CEO John Schnatter, in mid-November of the previous year, to ask journalists and bloggers to delete Obamacare comments he had made claiming that the price of pizza would increase by 11 cents. The firm spent several months doing this, boasting that most journalists complied.{{cite web|url=http://www.stableytimes.com/featured/papa-johns-pr-firm-targets-journalists-asking-that-obamacare-coverage-be-taken-down/1139/ |title = Papa Johns targets journalists, asking that ObamaCare coverage be taken down |last=Stabley |first=Will |access-date=January 27, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130128003258/http://www.stableytimes.com/featured/papa-johns-pr-firm-targets-journalists-asking-that-obamacare-coverage-be-taken-down/1139/ |archive-date=January 28, 2013 }}{{Cite news|url=https://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2013/01/papa-johns-pr-firm-targets-bloggers-155409|title=Papa John's PR firm targets bloggers|last=Gold|first=Hadas|authorlink=Hadas Gold|work=POLITICO|access-date=2017-12-29}} Sitrick and Company helped compose an op-ed for Schnatter, published in the Huffington Post, as well as rebuttals to subsequent reports of a decrease in Papa John's brand perception.{{Cite news|url=http://fortune.com/2013/02/28/the-education-of-papa-john/|title=The education of Papa John|last1=Bandler|first1=James|last2=Burke|first2=Doris|work=Fortune|access-date=2017-12-29|language=en}}

On June 19, 2014, Sitrick and Company began representing South Korean fugitive Yoo Byung-eun. After a failed attempt from Yoo's public relations company, Ahae Press, to deny a number of the assertions made about Yoo in a June 17 The Diplomat article by John Power, titled "The Cults of South Korea".{{cite news|url=https://thediplomat.com/2014/06/the-cults-of-south-korea/ |title=The Cults of South Korea |last=Power |first=John |work=The Diplomat |date=2014-06-17 |accessdate=2014-06-22}} Power claimed that Sitrick and Company was hired and asked sections of the piece to be removed.{{cite tweet|author=존파워/John Power|user=John_F_Power|number=479523333210259456|date=2014-06-19|title=LA-based PR firm Sitrick and Company is representing Ahae, aka Yoo Byung-eun. It has asked sections of my piece on Korean cults be removed.|access-date=2014-06-22|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171229034810/https://twitter.com/John_F_Power/status/479523333210259456|archive-date=2017-12-29|url-status=live}} Sitrick and Company had also previously distributed a press release by Ahae Press.{{Cite web|url=http://www.louvrepourtous.fr/Ahae-mecene-de-Versailles-derriere,773.html|title=Ahae, mécène de Versailles, derrière le scandale du naufrage en Corée du Sud|last=Hasquenoph|first=Bernard|website=www.louvrepourtous.fr|language=French|date=2014-04-24|access-date=2017-12-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171229035359/http://www.louvrepourtous.fr/Ahae-mecene-de-Versailles-derriere,773.html|archive-date=2017-12-29|url-status=live}}{{Cite press release|url=https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/korean-photographer-ahae-and-ahae-press-express-profound-sadness-to-sewol-ferry-victims-and-condolences-to-the-families-of-those-lost-and-injured-256763321.html|title=Korean photographer AHAE and Ahae Press express profound sadness to Sewol ferry victims and condolences to the families of those lost and injured|author=Ahae Press, Inc.|location=New York|publisher=PR Newswire Association|language=en|access-date=2017-12-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171229035518/https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/korean-photographer-ahae-and-ahae-press-express-profound-sadness-to-sewol-ferry-victims-and-condolences-to-the-families-of-those-lost-and-injured-256763321.html|archive-date=2017-12-29|url-status=live}}

In October 2017, Sitrick and Company were hired by Harvey Weinstein, following news reports regarding the Harvey Weinstein sexual abuse allegations; his subsequent firing by The Weinstein Company; and the resignation of attorney Lisa Bloom. As of April 2018, it was announced, that Sitrick and Company was no longer representing Weinstein, and that his new PR firm was Herald PR, New York.{{cite news|url=https://reputationmanagement.co/an-overview-of-sitrick-and-company/ |title=Sitrick and Company |last=Wright |first=Steven |work=The Reputation Management Company |date=2018-04-07 |accessdate=2018-04-07}}see also nytimes.com 1 June 2018 / Abby Aguirre: [https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/01/style/michael-sitrick-harvey-weinstein-crisis-management.html He Fixes the Worst P.R. Crises Imaginable. Then Came Harvey Weinstein.]

{{Reflist|30em}}

• [http://sitrick.com/ Sitrick and Company homepage]
• [https://books.google.com/books/about/The_Fixer.html?id=SD4_DgAAQBAJ The Fixer: Secrets for Saving Your Reputation in the Age of Viral Media, by Michael S. Sitrick; Simon and Schuster, 2018.] {{ISBN|9781621572862}}

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Category:1989 establishments in California

Category:Companies established in 1989

Category:Public relations companies of the United States

Category:Companies based in Los Angeles

Category:Reputation management companies

Category:Deloitte