The PR Hits, Misses, and Face Plants You Missed This Week

This week’s episode gives you a front row seat to my Friday live sessions, where culture, crisis, and community collide in the best possible way. Think of it as a sampler plate of reputational highs and lows. Some hits. Some misses. A few absolute disasters. And plenty of sharp commentary from the people who show up ready to spar.We dug into the stories bubbling across media, politics, entertainment, and news. Here’s what we got into:• The tightening screws around Pete Hegseth and the trip wires Trump keeps casually laying in public. • Signal Gate, and why the smallest digital habits always tell the biggest story. • The American Eagle campaign, Pantone’s baffling color of the year, and the new era of rage bait. • Spotify Wrapped’s identity crisis, including why the app suddenly thinks everyone is eighty. • The Lizzo Substack pivot and why her cancellation narrative leaves out the part that actually mattered. • The Belichick and Jordan Hudson saga that refuses to stop producing plot twists. • Erica Kirk’s full rebrand tour and what happens when an influencer decides to shed the bling. • The royal chaos machine that somehow keeps spinning even when no one is asking it to. • The early contenders for 2025’s best and worst crises, including a few names the audience threw in with real enthusiasm.If you want the unfiltered version, join us live next Friday. Right now, the streams run through Substack, but soon you’ll be able to watch on YouTube, Instagram, and Facebook. The room always warms up fast. The opinions never stay polite for long.Until then, pay attention to what people actually react to, not what the talking points tell you. That’s where the truth hides.Want More Behind the Breakdown? Follow The PR Breakdown with Molly McPherson on Substack for early access to podcast episodes, private member chats, weekly live sessions, and monthly workshops that go deeper than the mic. It is the inside hub for communicators who want real strategy, clear judgment, and a little side-eye where it counts.Follow Molly on Substack Subscribe to Molly's Weekly Newsletter  Need a Keynote Speaker? Drawing from real-world PR battles, Molly delivers the same engaging stories and hard-won crisis insights from the podcast to your live audience. Click here to book Molly for your next meeting. Follow & Connect with Molly:https://www.youtube.com/mollymcphersonhttps://mollymcpherson.substack.com/https://www.tiktok.com/@mollybmcphersonhttps://www.instagram.com/molly.mcpherson/...