In the wake of the incident that has shattered her life, Lizzie Grubman has assembled an unprecedented team of lawyers and PR specialists for damage control.
It’s not working very well.
Howard Rubenstein, the king of New York public relations, was brought in immediately to contain the all-important initial news reports. He shut down all unauthorized communications from the Grubman camp.
Just hours after the accident at Conscience Point nightclub last Saturday morning, Grubman’s employees – mostly socialites used to movie premieres and cocktail parties, not police stories – were besieged by street-smart reporters who gleefully repeated their every banal utterance.
“It wasn’t that bad,” said one. “At least no one was killed, ” said another.
Lizzie’s powerful father, Allen Grubman – one of the top entertainment lawyers in the world – soon started making discreet phone calls to key people in an attempt to rein in the story.
On Wednesday, Allen Grubman brought in attorney Stephen P. Scaring – a Garden City-based lawyer who’s represented various high-profile clients, including former New York Knick Dave DeBusschere, and Jets gridiron star Jim Dwyer.
Scaring is known as a low-key operator who gets results without the noise and distraction of a Johnnie Cochran. He is known for his cool demeanor and attention to detail. His criminal cases have run the gamut from DWI to several murder trials.
But Grubman is still reeling from the onslaught of negative media coverage.
“She couldn’t possibly have predicted this,” said a PR peer, who, like most of her contemporaries, asked not to be identified. “She’s like a rural doctor who’s just had a 747 crash in her front yard.”
And the efforts to contain the story are proving fruitless.
A Hamptons Web site has been flooded with hundreds of mostly caustic – mostly unprintable – remarks about how her wealthy father will buy his daughter’s way out of the mess she’s created.
Since her appearance on the sidewalk in front of her apartment building, Grubman has kept mum on the advice of her handlers.
“As a potential criminal case unfolds, she had better be talking only to her lawyers,” said Rubenstein.
And through it all, Grubman steadfastly maintains her innocence and sticks to her story.
“She’s indicated this is nothing more than an accident, a serious accident,” says Scaring.