Episode #62: Who Wore Their Apology Better: Jeffrey Toobin or Chrissy Teigen?

Talking Shop Podcast

Episode #62 marks our last show in June, so what better way to welcome in the summer months than by examining two high profile and embarrassing scandals.

Cam and Ewan return to the awkward Jeffrey Toobin apology and explanation live on CNN, but this time look at it from CNN's perspective. Unlike the New Yorker, where Toobin worked for 27 years, CNN didn't fire Toobin and found a way to bring him back onto the channel's airwaves. They didn't try and bury Toobin's return, either -- they went head-first into the scandal and asked Toobin very direct and personal questions to try and clear the air. It seems to have worked. The same can't be said for Chrissy Teigen, who is also mired in scandal after trolling people on Twitter for years. She hasn't found the same acceptance despite her apology, and the hosts discuss why.

We also look at the changing workplace and how COVID continues to change expectations and preferences for both companies and their employees. One trend on the rise - and was even gaining steam before the pandemic - is contract or freelance workers. Ewan walks us through what's happening, why this might be a good choice for employees, and what the pitfalls might be.

In Check This Out, Ewan shares an in-depth look at Amazon and its employee relations in light of the failed union drive in Bessemer, Alabama, while Cam shares this crazy thing. Yeah, we're not sure what it means either.

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Links and Show Notes

• Workforce 2025: The Future of the World of Work - Randstad
• Jeffrey Toobin's CNN Comeback is a Crisis PR Primer for Scandal-Ridden Washington - MediaPost
• Episode #32: Jeffrey Toobin's Embarrassing Zoom Call - PR & Law Podcast
• Hi Again - Chrissy Teigen (Medium)

Check This Out

• Hard Bargain: How Amazon Turned a Generation Against Labor - Harper's Magazine
• "This Chart is a Work of Art" - Katelyn Gadd (Twitter)

Hosts

Ewan Christie is an employment lawyer and partner at Duntrune LLP in Toronto, Canada.

Cam MacMurchy is a corporate communications executive with a multinational technology company listed in Hong Kong and curator of the Digital Bits PR and Communications newsletter. He also contributes to Apple news website 9to5Mac and shares his thoughts on PR, media, travel, and technology on his website.