“ColdplayGate” & The Importance of Showing Up

As ColdplayGate unfolds, I’ve been asked what I would say to Andy Byron. I’ve helped crisis clients through similar (and worse), and I see the same patterns playing out here.

It would go something like this:

“Andy, we live in divisive times. Yet those who’ve seen your clip (basically everyone) are experiencing a rare moment of unity. I believe I speak for all Americans when I say… Ugh.

Here’s the bad news:

-345,000 people have been talking about you online in the last 24 hours.

-3.2 million people have engaged in those discussions.

-Tens of millions more are watching from the sidelines.

-Everyone you’ve ever known knows about this. Life will never be the same.

Here’s the good news:

-25,000 people were talking about you at 3 p.m. EST yesterday. Only a quarter of that are doing so now.

-Engagement is dropping, which means people are moving on. America’s terrible attention span is working in your favor.

-To whatever extent this can be fixed, fixing it is up to you.

-It doesn’t feel like it now, but life will eventually go on.

Most importantly: Despite the damage that’s been done, you have the ability to decide what your life looks like next. Repairing relationships with those you’ve hurt most will take time, honesty, and a staggering amount of work. Start now.”

Most people think a crisis ends when the media coverage stops.

It doesn’t.

A true PR crisis is like a funeral. After everyone else moves on, you’re the one left picking up the pieces—alone. You may not have lost a loved one, but you’ve lost what life was like before:

Your credibility. The reputation you spent years building. Maybe your career itself. They’re gone. And chances are, they’re not coming back.

There’s only so much you can do when your mistake hits the airwaves and knocks you into the most painful chapter of your life.

But eventually, the media and the critics turn their attention elsewhere. What’s left is the chance to repair the relationships with people you care about. Those who know you best. Those who deserve to hear you say you’re sorry as many times as it takes for them to know you mean it.

I help clients shape their messaging and survive the public moment.

But I also help them repair the relationships that matter most: friends, teammates, classmates, neighbors, spouses, pastors, kids.

We call this Restorative Communications.

It’s not therapy. It’s not spin. It’s a plan to rebuild trust, one conversation at a time—with strategy, sincerity, and a whole lot of courage.

Because after the cameras are gone, what’s left isn’t just silence. It’s a chance to show up.

At the end of a crisis, its not what you say publicly, it’s how you show up privately that makes the difference.

Daniel S. Holt is the founder of Washington based Anchorage Partners LLC