8 Rules for Dealing With Celebrities at Events

I sat down with Cyd Wilson, who ran events for In Style and People magazines for a combined 17 years. Before she left her post at Time Inc. (and started out on her own under Cyd Wilson Entertainment Marketing), I asked her if she had any dos and don’ts for staff working a big Hollywood event. Did she ever; here are her rules:

1. Good hygiene!

2. Dress appropriately—they are the celebrities, you are not.

3. Don’t go out and buy an expensive dress; no one is looking at you. (Cyd was famous for wearing the same black-and-gold evening gown to every black-tie event for about 10 years, until the editors at In Style attacked it and cut it to shreds. Undaunted, Cyd had the dress put back together with safety pins—a la Elizabeth Hurley’s Versace frock circa 1994—and wore it again.)

4. Don’t have an elaborate hairstyle, and don’t disappear the day of an event for two hours of primping.

3. No pictures from your iPhones with celebrities.

4. No asking for autographs for your mom because she loves him/her.

5. No speaking to celebrities about how much of a fan you or your sister is.

6. No posting celebrity sightings or any celebrity activities on personal social media channels.

7. No speaking to any press outlet about any party or celebrity—grounds for immediate firing!

8. Don’t do anything in front of those celebrities that you would be embarrassed to have discussed the following morning in the staff meeting.

My full interview with Cyd Wilson is here.