ShareThisBy SAMANTHA ETTUS
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
If you were to tell me you were taking money out of the stock market and investing in celebrities instead, I would advise you to stake your cash on country crooners Sara Evans and Keith Urban.
You don't need a tarot card to guess that Evans and Urban will be making colossal comebacks in the wake of their current battles. Evans is fighting a broken heart after discovering her husband's cheating ways, and Urban is battling addiction. But the individual poison is beside the point, because both are inevitably going to attract headlines for their resurgences.
Let's take a look at recent examples of fallen stars who shot back to prominence, starting with Martha Stewart. Her brand was pummeled once the magnitude of her legal troubles became clear. She became fodder for every talk show in town _ many of them centering on predicting who would become the "next Martha."
That's the funny thing about rock bottom _ there's nowhere to go but up. In Martha's case, she answered all questions about her long-term viability with startling speed. Less than a year later after they attacked her, the very same pundits were applauding her comeback.
Then there was Teri Hatcher. Despite a solid four-year run as Lois Lane in "The New Adventures of Superman," Hatcher fell into obscurity for nearly seven years before re-emerging as a star of "Desperate Housewives."
She milked her comeback for all its value when she accepted a Golden Globe award, noting that she was a "has-been" before the show. America ate it up, and Hatcher laughed all the way to her next paycheck.
Nick Lachey could never have anticipated the meteoric rise that would follow after he was dumped by his far more famous wife, Jessica Simpson. Instead of the predicted retreat into obscurity, Lachey emerged as a lovable victim, and has had unexpected success with his new album, with the sales doubling those of his ex-wife's.
And any survey of recent flameouts would not be complete without mention of Britney Spears. After her wedding to Kevin Federline, her failed reality show, the weight gain from two pregnancies, and mishaps with her son, it seemed she had frittered away every morsel of public favor she once enjoyed.
But Spears is now on the cusp of a resurgence, complete with a newly-svelte post-pregnancy body, and a perceived desire to drag herself back from the brink.
What's the moral of this story?
Somewhat unexpectedly, history proves that it pays to be a roller coaster celebrity. Given a good publicist and a few smartly-timed stories leaked to the press, it's simply a matter of turning a minor career slump or social transgression into the launching point for a "comeback."
(Samantha Ettus is the creator of The Experts' Guide series of books. Contact her at Samantha(at)celebrityassets.com.)
