Snapchats And Sex Tapes: The Biggest Music PR Disasters Of The Decade
From U2 pissing off every iTunes user on the planet to Taylor Swift being exposed in a Snapchat video.
“Yo Taylor,” Kanye West began, “I’m really happy for you and I’ma let you finish, but Beyoncé has one of the best videos of all time.”
It’s been ten years since West jumped on stage at the MTV Video Music Awards and interrupted a 19-year-old Taylor Swift, who had just won Best Music Video for ‘You Belong With Me.’
This split-second decision from West has gone on to inform both his and Swift’s careers, resulting in the rapper’s momentary exile as well as a slew of sneak disses across songs, albums, and even Snapchat.
Despite the collateral damage, most musicians, artists, and PR teams dream of ending up in a dramatic rivalry potent enough to drum up headlines for years, if not decades. Staying relevant in an industry with a fast turnover and fanbase with an even shorter attention span isn’t easy. So it comes as no surprise that many turn to manufacturing aspirational, theatrical, and tragic moments in hopes of fame or even notoriety.
From sex tape hoaxes and iTunes libraries being compromised to stranded journalists, rich kids, and die-hard fans, we look back at the biggest music PR disasters of the last decade.
Imperial Stars’ Traffic Jam 101 (2010)
Hardcore hip-hop band Imperial Stars were looking for a way to promote their new single, ‘Traffic Jam 101’, back in 2010. The Orange County band decided to bring the song to life by causing a real-life traffic jam on Route 101 by driving a truck into the middle of the major Los Angeles highway and parking it sideways across three lanes.
The piece de resistance was the fedora-donning band performing the song on top of the truck, as the driver panicked and ran away with the keys. After three arrests were made, the band released a statement which claimed that the stunt was actually to garner support for child homelessness.
Three members of Imperial Stars were ordered to pay the California Department of Transportation $39,000 in fines.
Rihanna 777 (2012)
Back in 2012, when Rihanna still released music, she was much more loose with her marketing tactics. As she geared up for the release of her seventh studio album, Unapologetic, the Barbados singer turned away from the usual rigamarole of interviews and press junkets, instead opting instead for ‘Tour 777’.
Members of her devoted fanbase The Navy were invited, as well as a slew of journalists — 150 people were to be crammed into a Boeing 777. It was sold as a “unique, glamorous experience” and a peek inside the life of Rihanna as she flew to seven different shows in Mexico City, Toronto, Stockholm, Paris, Berlin, London, and New York City in just seven days.
Instead of lucking into an up-close and personal experience with the star, she was rarely seen. But things got a lot worse for those on board. A lack of sleep and the wild schedule caused breakdowns, possessions were stolen, passengers were dehydrated and the entire trip unravelled into chaos by the end.
“I think everyone had their moment where they completely melted down. My meltdown happened after [Berlin] when we got to London, “Ian Drew, editorial director for Us Weekly who was invited on the tour, told Mashable. “I started crying and breaking down—it was one of the worst moments of my life… I could not take it anymore. I was at the depths of misery.”
It was an emotionally taxing journey for journalist and fans alike. And if you’re hoping that the documentary released in 2013 will give you an insight on the nightmare that was Tour 777, you’re out of luck.
DJ Khaled’s Fake Marriage Proposal To Nicki Minaj (2013)
DJ Khaled doesn’t know where to draw the line. It was just three years ago that he streamed the entire birth of his first son on Snapchat. But a few years even before that, the New Orleans producer was pulling wild antics to sell singles.
In a video released by MTV News in 2013, Khaled speaks directly to the camera: “Nicki Minaj, I’m at MTV, I’m going to be honest with you; I love you. I like you, I want you, I want you to be mine.”
“The only reason why I’m not telling you this face to face is I understand that you’re busy,” he says before popping off the big question: “Nicki Minaj, will you marry me?” Flashing a 10-carat diamond ring valued at $500,000, Khaled signs off, not before causing a media meltdown.
Rick Ross gave his blessing, while Minaj was spotted days later wearing a diamond ring. But just a week after the video’s release, it was revealed the proposal was a hoax to drum up publicity for the Cash Money labelmates’ new single, ‘I Wanna Be With You,’ which also featured Ross and Atlanta rapper, Future.
Minaj confirmed the proposal was bogus in a radio interview: “Nobody in my real life took it seriously. Everybody just hit me like, ‘LOL. Yo, Khaled is crazy.’”
Rita Ora’s Tweet-And-Delete Fiasco (2014)
Celebrities have huge followings that climb into the millions, and utilising this to promote singles means forgoing wild stunts. Tweets asking for an exuberant number of likes and retweets in exchange for new music isn’t uncommon, nor is seeing most musicians reach their goals. But in 2014, Rita Ora learned that a big follower count doesn’t necessarily mean engagement.
“Dropping my new song Monday if this gets 100,000 retweets,” Ora shared on October 31. After receiving less than 2,000 retweets the singer deleted the tweet. But her stealthy move didn’t go unnoticed.
One fan quickly responded, asking, “So we’re not getting a new single?” Instead of conceding defeat Ora turned to one of the worst and most unconvincing excuses in the Internet’s playbook, claiming she was hacked.
“By the way my Twitter got hacked somebody is threatening to release new music I’ve worked really hard on,” she wrote 12 hours later. “Nothing comes out until I’m ready.” She was dragged accordingly.
U2 Force Their Album On 500 million iTunes Users (2014)
There probably was a moment in time where U2 had fans that wanted to listen to their music, but in 2014 they weren’t taking any chances. After working out a deal with Apple, the Irish band was paid a blanket royalty fee of $100 million to give away their album Songs of Innocence to all 500 million iTunes users for free.
It was touted as one of the most generous giveaways in music history. Guitarist, The Edge told TIME that the launch was “actually incredible subversive, really punk rock [and] really disruptive.” But in reality, it was one huge flop.
The album, which was uploaded to every user’s library without their knowledge on September 14, caused a collective worldwide groan. After the PR stunt turned into a fully-fledged crisis, Apple was forced to release a tool to remove the album from accounts, with a dedicated webpage providing step-by-step instructions.
YACHT Sex Tape Hoax (2016)
In 2015, Los Angeles art-pop duo YACHT released a shocking statement on Facebook revealing that a sex tape made by the band’s members, Claire L. Evans and Jona Bechtolt, had been leaked online.
“We assumed that we were the only people who would be privy to that video,” the statement reads. “I guess we were naive. Now you have the option to be privy to that video. For us, that’s a shame…We hope you understand that this is not a delicious scandal. This is an exploitation.”
For the price of $5, people were given the option to view the tape, with the money going directly to the band. In a time where revenge porn became a prominent subject, the story was widely reported with sympathy.
When the video turned up on Pornhub it was revealed to be a poorly-constructed hoax to promote their single. The backlash was immense, with the the band being accused of exploiting actual victims of revenge porn. The band’s PR firm, Motormouthmedia, made a point to distance themselves from the stunt. After a poorly worded non-apology, YACHT released a second apology where they conceded that they “didn’t get” the gravity of the situation.
Taylor Swift Exposed By Kim Kardashian On Snapchat (2016)
After their first run-in at the top of the decade, Taylor Swift and Kanye West seemed to have made amends. Spotted chatting and posing for photos at the 2015 Grammy Awards, the stars looked to have put the past behind them, but it didn’t last long. Almost exactly a year later West released his seventh studio album, The Life of Pablo, and all hell broke loose again. “For all my Southside n****s that know me best/I feel like I and Taylor might still have sex Why?/I made that bitch famous (God damn)/I made that bitch famous,” the Chicago rapper bellows on ‘Famous’.
At the 2016 Grammys just two days later, Swift addressed the lyrics. “As the first woman to win Album of the Year at the Grammys twice, I want to say to all the young women out there, there will be people along the way who will try to undercut your success,” she said. “Or take credit for your accomplishments or your fame.”
Not one to be cornered, West took to Twitter and declared that Swift had, in fact, approved the lyrics, even going as far as saying she thought they were “funny.” But her representatives denied the claims. “Kanye did not call for approval, but to ask Taylor to release his single ‘Famous’ on her Twitter account,” Swift’s representatives said in a statement.
The debacle reignited the feud they had just buried. But on July 17, Kim Kardashian-West got involved and took down the pop singer with one fell swoop. The reality star, who claims she had enough of Swift saying she didn’t know she’d be featured on ‘Famous,’ released video footage on her Snapchat of the phone call between West and Taylor. In the videos, you can hear West clearly talking to Swift about his song. The conversation is light, friendly and cordial. “I really appreciate you telling me about it. That’s really nice,” she says. “It’s all very tongue-in-cheek either way.”
After that, Swift’s side of the story began to look a little inconsistent. Following the Snapchat takedown, she used Instagram to share her thoughts on the videos. “While I wanted to be supportive of Kanye on the phone call, you cannot ‘approve’ of a song you haven’t heard,” Swift wrote on Instagram. “Being falsely painted as a liar when I was never given the full story or played any part of the song is character assassination.”
Rumours and accusations of Swift’s cold and calculating nature began to mount, forcing the star into having a quiet year.
Fyre Festival (2017)
Do you remember where you were when you saw the first Fyre Festival announcement? Featuring Emily Ratajkowski, Bella Hadid, Hailey Bieber, and a slew of other Instagram-famous models, the two-minute teaser clip sold the idea of a picturesque paradise previously owned by Pablo Escobar (or so they claimed).
The new music festival guaranteed an indulgent experience like nothing else that had come before it with a star-studded lineup and luxury accommodation over “two immersive weekends.” People bought tickets, boarded planes and arrived on the Bahamian island of Great Exuma ready for the time of their lives, but was unfolded was a living nightmare.
The first reports from the festival appeared on Twitter and photos of rundown tents, splayed mattresses, and Kraft singles showed a very different picture to the dream ticket holders were sold.
In 2018, Netflix and Hulu released respective documentaries about the fiasco revealing the truly horrifying lead up to one of the music industry’s biggest failures. Founder Billy McFarland was sued for $100 million in a class-action lawsuit on behalf of Fyre Festival attendees and then arrested and charged with wire fraud in Manhattan for his role in the organisation of the festival.
He is currently serving six years in federal prison. The face of the festival, Ja Rule, got off scot-free.
Soulja Boy Sells Illegal Gaming Consoles (2018)
Soulja Boy’s money troubles often culminate in strange behaviour; from pretending to live in a $6 million Airbnb penthouse to selling Tweets. Then in 2018, he released SouljaWatches and other Soulja Boy-branded electronics, including a gaming console on souljawatch.com.
It seemed like the perfect solution to his financial problems, as hip-hop merchandise became highly coveted. Although after the products were revealed in December, fans began to point out that they were cheap off-brand products, available on Chinese websites like Alibaba and Aliexpress. The handheld console which claimed to play “Switch/3DS/Vita/NEOGEO/GBC/Gameboy/GBA” games, with 3000 already built-in, caught the attention of Nintendo. Now, souljagame.com/ redirects to the official Nintendo website.
As for those who actually bought these knock-off products from the site? According to Complex, fans still haven’t received them, and customer service emails aren’t being answered.
Drake’s Secret Son Exposed By Pusha T (2018)
The last ten years have been prosperous for Toronto rapper Drake, whose sing-song flow not only inspired a new and exciting chapter in hip-hop but propelled him into one of the biggest stars in the world. However, he didn’t close out the decade unscathed, with a no holds barred feud between himself and Pusha T erupting in 2018.
After responding to a sneak diss on Pusha’s 2018 album, DAYTONA, Drake threw his own punches on ‘Duppy Freestyle,’ attacking the GOOD Music rapper’s relationship with his new fiancée.
Yet when Pusha responded with ‘The Story of Adidon,’ he didn’t hold back, taking aim at Drake’s father, mother, his best friend and producer 40’s chronic illness, and finally exposed his secret love child.
Forced to admit he had had a child with French porn star, Sophie Brussaux, Drake opened up about being a dad on his album, Scorpion, although he seemed none too pleased about it.
Kish Lal is a writer and critic based in New York City. She is on Twitter.