What To Do When Someone Else's Scandal Becomes Your Company’s Problem

By Eden Gillott (EO Los Angeles), a strategic advisor to C-Suites and Boards and president of Gillott Communications. Her upcoming fourth book, Beyond the Statement, is a strategic playbook for leaders who know a PR crisis isn’t only about the statement, it’s about everything that comes before it.

It wasn’t your CEO. It wasn’t your team. But the person caught in a scandal is tied to your brand either through a vendor relationship, a joint venture, an influencer deal, or a highly visible collaboration.

Now, your reputation’s collateral damage.

You’re not legally responsible. But reputationally? You’re standing next to them in the group photo.

Suddenly, you’re scrambling to assess:

Are we implicated? Do we issue a statement? Do we cut ties?

Most personal scandals don’t go viral like the now-former Astronomer CEO's misstep did, but they don’t have to.

Employees talk. Clients notice. Investors whisper. The questions come either way.

Step One: Remove the rose-colored glasses.

We’ve all said it:

• "But they've been with me since the beginning."
• “But they’ve always been so nice (to me).”
• "But they bring in a lot of clients."
• “But they’re family (literally or figuratively)!”

That loyalty won’t undo the damage.

One client had a vendor they’d used for nearly a decade. The vendor’s founder had been there since the client’s early startup days. He was helpful, loyal, and well-connected. But after he was recorded on a hot mic making sexist and homophobic jokes at a trade event, the client froze.

They didn’t want to believe it was as bad as the recording made it seem. “He’s always been good to us,” the client said. “He even sent us champagne when we hit our Series B.”

The team hesitated. They didn’t want to hurt the relationship or deal with the disruption of switching suppliers. However, within a week, three employees inquired with HR whether the company endorsed the vendor’s behavior, and two of their major client accounts subsequently put their accounts on hold.

By the time leadership made the call to cut ties, it was too late. It didn’t look principled. It looked like PR damage control.

Step Two: Know your playbook and when to use it.

There’s no single correct answer, but here are five common paths:

1. Quick Drop: End the relationship swiftly and cleanly. Publicly or quietly. It signals your values and creates daylight.
2. Wait and See: Buy time to investigate or assess blowback. However, be aware that this can appear as willful ignorance if prolonged.
3. Penalty Box: Freeze the relationship without ending it. No appearances, no promotion, no co-branding until further notice.
4. Quiet Rebrand: Slowly phase them out or rename the joint venture, product, or partnership.
5. Ride It Out: Rare and risky. If you go this route, it should be intentional, and the upside had better be worth it.

If you decide to have them stay, it had better be for the right reasons. Not because you’re scared. Not because you’re comfortable.

An influencer tied to a product launch got arrested mid-campaign. It wasn’t a household name, but they had a loyal niche following and a visible connection to the client’s brand through packaging, reels, and affiliate discounts.

Leadership hesitated. The arrest hadn’t made national headlines, so they told themselves it might blow over. But internally, employees started forwarding screenshots and asking if the company planned to address it.

Then came the real pressure: A regional sales team reported that two longtime retail partners had flagged the association and were considering pulling their in-store displays. The company chose the Penalty Box route and ultimately paused the partnership, but by then, it seemed more like damage control than values in action.

When companies freeze instead of act, it’s often because they’re too close to the problem to see it clearly.

Step Three: Don’t rely on emotion or convenience.

When you’re financially or emotionally invested, your judgment gets cloudy. You need someone objective—someone who isn’t trying to preserve a friendship, save a deal, or protect their own job.

And remember: silence is rarely neutral.

If someone’s behavior contradicts your company’s values and you say nothing, people assume you’re OK with it. That’s not brand alignment. That’s complicity.

A client I worked with fired a longtime partner for sexual misconduct. As their strategic advisor, we helped them navigate the fallout. After our engagement ended, we found out they then brought him back out of guilt and financial pressure. They told themselves he'd learned his lesson and tried to sweep it under the rug. They even gave him the office directly behind the woman he used to harass. Of course, the woman he harassed wasn’t having it. (And neither were her coworkers.) She filed a lawsuit so big it nearly sank the company.

The misconduct was bad. But bringing him back? That was worse. The company showed very clearly that they valued revenue over their employees' well-being. I declined their offer to re-engage as their strategic advisor. It was a complete misalignment of ethics and values for me and my team.

In today’s business landscape, reputation isn’t just about what you say your values are. It’s about what you tolerate and how quickly you act when those values are tested.

Because in the court of public opinion, indecision is still a decision. And it rarely plays in your favor.

Related posts on crisis PR that may be of interest:

• How to Fix Broken Communications During a Crisis
• 14 questions to ask during an internal communications crisis
• When Your Brand Takes a Hit: How To Make a Swift Recovery
• 8 Tips To Navigate Cancel Culture So Your Business Survives

• 5 Ways EO Membership Enhances Your Ability to Navigate a Crisis Successfully