Amy Adams ‘appalled’ at Valentino’s PR email about purse worn at PSH’s funeral

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Philip Seymour Hoffman’s memorial service was held Friday in NYC. Many celebrities and A-listers came out for the event, including: Meryl Streep, Joaquin Phoenix, Cate Blanchett, Louis CK, Julianne Moore, Michelle Williams, Justin Theroux, Ethan Hawke, Ellen Burstyn and John C. Reilly. The header photo is Amy Adams and her partner Darren. Amy and PSH worked together at least three times that I can see – Doubt, Charlie Wilson’s War and The Master. Apparently, Amy appeared on Inside the Actor’s Studio this past week and when she was asked about Hoffman, she broke down in tears and she was crying so hard she could barely get out any words. My point? Amy adored Hoffman and she came to his memorial out of love, respect and sadness. But the PR people at Valentino thought Amy’s appearance was a good time to promote the fact that she was carrying one of their bags (see photo here).

Philip Seymour Hoffman’s wake was just another runway for one fashion house. A tone-deaf publicist for Italian designer Valentino blasted out pictures of a downcast Amy ­Adams — taken outside of Hoffman’s wake Thursday — to promote one of its newest fashion accessories.

“We are pleased to announce Amy Adams carrying the Valentino Garavany Rockstud Duble bag from the Spring/Summer 2014 collection on Feb. 6 in New York,” Valentino’s flack, Upasna Khosla, e-mailed to journalists and bloggers.

Adams, who co-starred with Hoffman in “The Master,” was photographed outside the Frank E. Campbell funeral home on the Upper East Side standing near a town car wearing dark shades and a scarf — and carrying the hot new tote that retails for $3,275.

Valentino spokeswoman Mona Swanson apologized for the crass marketing blitz, calling it an ­“innocent mistake.”

“We sincerely regret releasing a photo to the media this morning of Amy Adams with a Valentino bag,” Swanson said in a statement to The Post. “We were not aware the photograph was taken while she was attending the wake of Philip Seymour Hoffman. It was an innocent mistake, and we apologize to Ms. Adams who was not aware, or a part of, our p.r. efforts.”

The blast from Khosla, a “celebrity relations manager,” included two pictures of Adams from photo agencies Getty and Zumapress. The captions on both ­photos said they were shot at Hoffman’s wake.

“Amy Adams attends the wake for actor Philip Seymour Hoffman at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel on February 6, 2014 in New York City,” the caption on the Getty image says. Khosla’s marketing e-mail didn’t include the photo captions, only pictures followed by a promotion for the bag.

When asked whether the publicist saw the captions, Valentino did not respond to the question. Khosla’s e-mail was also riddled with typos — including the name of the bag, which is actually called the Valentino Garavani Rockstud Double bag.

The company insists she will keep her job. Valentino was quick to emphasize that Adams had no role in the promotion and did not know the pictures would be used for publicity. Adams’ own rep agreed.

“Amy Adams is not a paid spokesperson for Valentino, and the suggestion she would use this moment to participate in a promotion is truly appalling,” spokeswoman Megan Moss ­Pachon said in a statement.

The actress has no public contract with Valentino but did wear a red Valentino dress to the Golden Globes to accept her award for “American Hustle.”

Meanwhile, an UGG Australia source said the company sent out sheepskin boots as gifts to celebrities in New York for Hoffman’s wake and funeral in the hopes they would wear them and be photographed. The associate said the company did the “gifting because they knew a ton of celebs were in New York City and the weather sucks.”

A company spokeswoman insisted the celebrities had made requests for the popular boots.

“UGG Australia has received a number of requests this week,” the spokeswoman, Kristen Scaravaglione, said in a statement to The Post.

[From Page Six]

Yeah… that’s really awful. And I agree, that’s not on Amy Adams at all. She just grabbed a purse, and it wasn’t like she was screaming “LOOK AT ME!” at the funeral. It was very tacky and graceless of the Valentino PR people to do an email blast about it.

One exception to the “don’t pay attention to what celebrities are wearing at funerals” rule: when the funeral is for a fashion designer. Whenever a major designer dies, the women who loved the designer tend to wear the designer’s clothes to the funeral. Remember Alexander McQueen’s funeral? It was all A-listers wearing gorgeous McQueen clothes. And that’s what McQueen would have wanted too, I’m sure. But that’s not the case for Hoffman’s memorial.

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Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet and WENN.

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63 Responses to “Amy Adams ‘appalled’ at Valentino’s PR email about purse worn at PSH’s funeral”

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  1. LAK says:

    That was pretty crass. A funeral isn’t a sales opportunity.

    • Kiddo says:

      It is if you’re a vulture.

    • Virgilia Coriolanus says:

      I call straight BS on their ‘innocent mistake’.

      Think of it this way–what did they have to lose? Absolutely nothing, and everything to gain. They point out that Amy is carrying a Valentino bag to her friend’s funeral, there’s some outrage over what vultures they are (thanks Kiddo), and then what?

      Nothing–at the very least. I’d expect increased sales.

      Because is anyone honestly going to boycott Valentino over that? Is anyone going to get fired? I honestly don’t think so. This’ll be forgotten by tomorrow, while they’re enjoying a surge in sales.

      And all they had to do is take two seconds to draft a bs apology.

      Hiring a model/actress to rep Valentino= 20 million

      Using a pap pic of a grieving woman at a memorial service to ‘rep’ their shit= priceless beyond all measure

      • Tippy says:

        There’s another memorial service planned for Hoffmann later this month, which will undoubtedly be attended by many more celebrities.

        Valentino & UGGS could be conspicuously absent at that time if there is public outrage over their stunts.

      • Bridget says:

        People won’t boycott, but Valentino could have very well burned some pretty big bridges with celebrity clientele. This is a big, tacky gaffe, and could absolutely result in some of those celebrities choosing not to wear Valentino for major events, with Valentino losing out on the advertisingnand awareness that brings.

      • Virgilia Coriolanus says:

        @Bridget
        Didn’t Amy wear Valentino at the GGs (can’t remember if it was said in the article above)??

        Bet you she won’t for the rest of this awards season, if not for the rest of her career. I *would* carry a grudge THAT far.

      • Bridget says:

        That was my point: it won’t be a formal boycott, but you can bet Valentino burned that bridge with Adams, and prob several others that were at that funeral. Stupid, stupid mistake.

      • Liberty says:

        That PR move was crass as all hell. Then — they tried to pretend they didn’t know what the photos depicted, but photos from services come clearly captioned!

        A friend has noted the misspellings of name of the item they were trying to hawk. So, not only a cold thoughtless cash-grubbing move at a sensitive time, but a sloppy one. Tacky all the way around. High-class operation, not.

  2. Hubbahun says:

    Team Amy. She’s someone you know without doubt would never condone this – it’s just so despicable.

    I love Amy Adams and I hope she can put this behind her – and on a personal hope, I really really hope that this is her year at the Oscar’s – it’s well past due.

    • ahoyhoy says:

      I agree! I’m tired of Amy being skipped over for awards. I think she & JLaw carried American Hustle, so hopefully Oscar voters will finally appreciate her this year.

      • Hubbahun says:

        Definitely! It was the women who came to the fore (and I believe that Mr Renner also out-acted his nominated male co-stars too :D). I sincerely believe that Amy will give Meryl a run for her money in awards though – I can just see it. (Loved her since The West Wing!)

      • Zadie says:

        It was Amy and Bradley for me. JLaw was way over the top, as per usual.

    • pwal says:

      There is no question that Amy will not be seen as complicit in the clusterfcuk. In previous threads on this very board, some of us wondered whether AA’s award season chances were hampered by her not being the usual red carpet darling. Although she’s stepped up her game as of late doesn’t mean that anyone would believe that she would play the sponsorship game at a funeral. Hilaria Baldwin- sure, because she’s just that hungry and irrelevant, but Amy has credibility that she’s earned years ago, without benefit of being anyone’s arm candy.

      Amy will be fine, unless some @$$hole want to stir up award season drama, which seems particularly bad this year.

      • Virgilia Coriolanus says:

        That’s one of the things that I love about Amy. She wasn’t some young, cute thing with a nice rack that decided to engage in some fameho media stunts i.e. calling the paps on her way to the dentist–coughkatebosworthcough–she got to where she is through talent alone.

        I mean, when people saw her in ‘Catch me if you can’, did anyone think that she would be the actress that she was today? I think that’s a lesson in not to judge from early work—I liked her in the movie, but I never would’ve thought that she had as much range as she has now. First movie, after that that I saw her in was ‘Enchanted’..

      • Tapioca says:

        Amy will be fine. She may be extra-specially fine, given that she’s everyone’s second choice for the Oscar after Cate Blanchett, who’s been dragged into the Allen-Farrow mudslinging.

        No-one with a vote is really going to hold fashion house PR-f***ery against her.

    • lucy2 says:

      I really hope she wins. I love Cate Blanchett and she was excellent in Blue Jasmine, but Amy’s performance is American Hustle was just so layered and complex and heartbreaking.

  3. chloe says:

    I’ve thought a lot if the coverage of PSH death has been crass, the paps standing outside Mimi’s house and harassing visitors all week long and then publishing photos of his children grieving outside the funeral. This story (along with Uggs sending boots which I hope no one wore) is beyond heartless and tacky, I feel sorry for Amy Adams for getting drawn into this mess, I probably would no longer be westing Valentino.

  4. Annie says:

    Innocent mistake my ass. Paparazzi agencies always post full descriptions of pictures. Date, event, everything. The fashion industry is just this out of touch and classless.

    • Stef Leppard says:

      +1
      They did it all on purpose because they knew people would talk about it. No publicity is bad publicity, and all that. It makes me sick.

    • Liberty says:

      Exactly — I didn’t see this comment before I noted the same thing above. This was just the move of a desperate uncaring PR hack. I’ve worked in the industry and there is no way they didn’t know what this photo was from — photos are captioned, and their office is in NYC.

    • lucy2 says:

      I agree – all the photos that came out that day clearly noted what she was attending, there’s no way the Valentino person didn’t know that. If they truly didn’t bother to check or read the captions, they have no business handling PR for any company.

  5. blahblahfishcakes says:

    Please destroy the purse and send it back, Amy.

    • Frida_K says:

      My first thought when I read your comment was that she should have a cat drop a gift (hairball or…worse) into the bag and then send it back.

      But then she’s stooping to their level. Directly, and equally, to their level.

      She should rise above and just quietly and without comment return the bag to them.

      • Seagulls says:

        +1
        That bag is probably already on its way back to Valentino. I wouldn’t be surprised if she didn’t wear Valentino for a long, long time.

  6. paola says:

    I bet Amy won’t be choosing any more Valentino’s gowns for any red carpet yet to come.
    At least this is what I would do.

    • lovelylaura says:

      I agree. That seems like the way Amy would and should handle this debacle.

      On another note: In the 5th picture, is that Ellen Burstyn and Louie CK? If so, that’s an…interesting couple. 🙂

  7. Kim1 says:

    Which celebrities attending the funeral”requested” Uggs? GMAFB
    Im surprised some designer didnt find out what suit PSH was in and release that info.”Oscar Winner PSH was laid to rest in a suit from our 2013 Fall collection”

  8. Alice says:

    I find this story interesting because I was actually an intern at Valentino about a year and knew Upasna personally. The people in the Valentino offices are catty horrible people. I have worked in other fashion houses before and since and have honestly never been in such an awful work environment in terms of people just generally being mean individuals. What I find odd about this story is that Upasna was actually one of the nicest people there. She would always talk to me and ask me about myself even though I was only an intern. She always seemed in a good mood and laughing. I’m inclined to think this was an honest mistake. They jump at the opportunity to share any image of a celeb carrying their designs. Was it stupid to not check the context of where Amy was and what she was doing? Yes. Absolutely. But I don’t think Upasna realized she was attending a wake. Should she assume responsibility? Yes, but I personally hope as doesn’t lose her job over it because I do remember her as a good person. I feel that had Valentino realized the potential backlash of releasing this press statement they wouldn’t hve done it… That would be just bad business sense.

    • The Original G says:

      Do you think it’s possible that she was directed to send the tweet by a tone deaf superior?

      • Shannon1972 says:

        Definitely – I thought that too. But unfortunately, as I said below, she will probably be thrown under the bus regardless since her name was on the tweet. I don’t believe for a second that they didn’t know she was in town for PSH’s wake, it’s their job to keep track of celebrity clients. Tragic as it is, this was an extremely high profile event.

      • The Original G says:

        Well, I’m sure the other fashion houses are listening too. 🙂 Hopefully, this is a lesson learned for everyone.

    • Shannon1972 says:

      I worked for Valentino as a sales exec in NYC, wow, going back maybe 10 yrs. Definitely before Valentino himself sold the company…and I don’t see the PR people I knew making a mistake like this, but we were in NY and would have known she was in town for the wake. It’s their job to know these things. I think they deliberately sent the tweet out, and are now backpedaling. It’s possible that they didn’t think people would connect the picture to the wake, and underestimated the extent of the coverage it received.
      They probably lost Amy as a client (at least for now), right before the Oscars. A very popular best actress nominee is a devastating loss for any fashion house. Though they insist now that the PR manager will not be fired (because that would be akin to admitting that she knew it was a wake), when things quiet down, I’m thinking they will find another reason to let her go. It’s a shame, since she was apparently a nice person. But unfortunately, nice people make mistakes and this was a big one. I’m not unsympathetic though.

      On another note, I’m sorry you had such a bad experience as an intern there. You really have to enjoy swimming with sharks to work in fashion. I had to develop a thick skin fast…most of the people I knew were so self-important you would think they were curing cancer.

      • Carolyn says:

        This. It’s now an established PR strategy to hype something up and if the public backlash it creates a new opportunity to present a new chance at PR coverage…they all do it now. And if it gets bungled they simply blame it on someone lower down….and the company PR people high five themselves at how clever they are.

        Amy won’t be wearing Valentino again.

        They have their heads so far up their behinds they don’t realise we don’t actually fall for it.

      • Shannon1972 says:

        Carolyn, You pretty much just summed it up. Twisted, isn’t it?

  9. Feebee says:

    No class, no excuse, shame on Valentino. I would love to see a Valentino-free Oscars.

  10. ahoyhoy says:

    redacted

  11. Tippy says:

    Hardly seems fair to single out Jennifer Aniston for not attending the funeral. One could just as easily ask “where was Hanks or Walberg or Stiller or Reynolds .

    Besides, Justin allegedly told Jennifer not to come to NYC or he would end their relationship.

    • Virgilia Coriolanus says:

      Um, no one even mentioned Jennifer Aniston on this thread–not even the writer. I was a little surprised that she didn’t go to the funeral with Justin—I noticed because out of all the pics of celebs that I recognized, he was the only one without his ‘other half’, so I wondered why she didn’t go, especially since it seems that he and Hoffman were really good friends—I would say that they at least shared a bond as former addicts.

      But I’m not understanding your comment–no one mentioned Jennifer or Justin.

      • Tippy says:

        The original comment which referred to Jennifer as “crass” for not attending the funeral has since been deleted.

      • Kim1 says:

        She was mentioned ,the comments were deleted.I saw them a couple of hrs ago.We have no idea why she didn’t fly to NYC.

      • The Original G says:

        People grieve in their own way. Who knows if Jen felt it was appropriate to attend? I don’t think it’s something an outsider can judge.

      • Chloe says:

        Thank you Original G, when I saw the original comment that has now been removed, I was disgusted, who knows what the situation is with Justin and Jen, but trying to make gossip about why she wasn’t at the memorial is horrible. My husband attended a visitation for one of his friends spouse yesterday, I’ve only met her a few times so I sent a condolence and donation and let my husband attend on his own. There was a bunch of old co-workers that he hadn’t seen in a long time and I would have not know anyone and it gave him time to visit. I still cannot believe that he has passed on, what a loss to the industry, he was truly one of the best actors of our time.

    • Sienna says:

      If your partner’s very close friend died – wouldn’t you be there to console and comfort him? Jennifer has been and will always be one a selfish woman who only thinks about herself and her needs. I knew the instant when Courteney was back into the group that Jennifer and Justin are in huge trouble and on the verge of a breakup – her not attending the funeral just confirms it.

      Plus NY is Heidi’s territory and many if Justin’s longterm friends are also Heidi’s friends. Jennifer doesn’t have the guts to come face to face with Heidi and her friends because of the way Jennifer humiliated her by having an affair with Justin for almost a year behind Heidi’s back.

      • Sugar says:

        You would think-right? i totally agree w/your view about it being NYC with old friends and haunts but would hope she would have offered to be by his side and he may have declined for his own reasons. i could be really snarky about JA but this post is about Amy and her grief and loss so behave i will.
        PSH touched so many-i still just cannot believe he is gone from us. his loss has devastated his family , friends & fans:(

      • Linda says:

        Sienna you really are a horrible person. To try and make this post about Anniston is disgusting.

    • jj says:

      Ben Stiller attended his wake I think.
      Where were Tom Cruise, Mark Wahlberg or George Clooney, btw. PSH practically saved Clooney’s mediocre Ides movie.

      • Kim1 says:

        Not that it matters but Clooney and Damon were in Berlin Friday.I would think PSH close friends were invited .Co star in film does not equal close friend.It doesnt matter who was there a funeral is about the deceased not the guests.

      • jj says:

        Clooney was in NY doing the Letterman show, the same day friends of PSH attended his wake.

        But I guess you are right they don’t have much in common, why would these two be friends.

  12. Reece says:

    BS they didn’t know that was his memorial.

    I hope she sends that bag back and doesn’t wear Valentino for a long time.

  13. Cleveland Girl says:

    All of the above – plus the fact that the bag she was carrying looked like something that could be picked up at Target. I saw it on another site, and could not believe it was actually a Valentino.

    • Shannon1972 says:

      It’s been knocked off so many times now, it’s almost impossible to tell that the original designer was Valentino (or the mess it became after he sold it). Boy, it really took a nosedive after he sold, and it’s a shame because he was truly a fashion genius. I have gowns sitting in my closet that I have absolutely no use for, and I wish I could just wear them grocery shopping or for car pool. The fact that they are just hanging in a closet is sad, because they are art.

  14. Chinoiserie says:

    Amy was also going to work in a movie that Hoffman was suopposed to direct. The news came only a couple of before he died I believe. So sad, I am sure they were close if they worked together so often.

    • Andrea says:

      It’s fairly well known that Adams and Hoffman were extremely close friends. They adored each other. And it wasn’t one sided. Hoffman loved Amy. There was an article posted on Vanity Fair just this week about how he called the woman writing her cover story for VF in the supermarket twice just to talk about her. They loved each other. Valentino are fools and I hope Adams burns everything they’ve given her.

  15. Marianne says:

    I think its pretty tasteless for the paps to be taking pics outside of the memorial as well. Everyone is there to grieve, they don’t want a camera shoved in their face. Especially the children.

  16. hmmm says:

    She “grabbed a purse”? It was a tote. Who needs a red tote at a funeral? I just don’t get it. Yeah, Valentino has crossed a line. There are no words.

    • Andrea says:

      Adams isn’t from New York. My guess is that she used whatever she had with her and probably didn’t even switch bags. That was probably just the bag she carried on her trip.

  17. Vera says:

    I’m just a Southern gal, but who wears Uggs boots to a funeral?

  18. Skye says:

    Oh, thank God Ugg came to the rescue. That’s SOOO thoughtful, “gifting” boots to people who can already afford a roomful of Uggs if they want one, who have assistants to run out and grab a pair of boots should they find themselves “suddenly” in NY, Please. Tasteless publicity whoring. If Ugg is feeling generous, maybe they can “gift” some boots to the NON-millionaires whose feet are freezing all over New York.

  19. Amy says:

    “One exception to the “don’t pay attention to what celebrities are wearing at funerals” rule: when the funeral is for a fashion designer. Whenever a major designer dies, the women who loved the designer tend to wear the designer’s clothes to the funeral.”

    So the fashion houses were all about capturing who wore what to his wake because PSH was such a fashionisto, right?

    At the end of the day, these are working people who came together to mourn one of their own. Shame on Valentino, Uggs and anyone else who saw death an opportunity to promote anything.

  20. Gal says:

    See Amy in Junebug. She was nominated for an Oscar for best supporting actress. She is awesome in that movie and every movie she’s been in.