Christian Bale Faces Image Problem

Celebrity Publicist Offers Advice In Wake Of Arrest

(CBS)  Christian Bale is out on bail after being arrested for allegedly assaulting some family members. The incident may bring trouble to a high-powered publicity campaign for his latest movie.

Bale left a London police station Tuesday after four hours of questioning. The star of "The Dark Knight" was in the U.K. for the opening of the movie when his mother and sister complained that he had assaulted them, CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer reports.

Police are now investigating to see what really happened in Bale's suite at the Dorchester hotel on Sunday. It seems there may have been some pushing, but no one was hurt, although feelings were certainly bruised. Bale is due to report back to police in the fall.

"The Dark Knight" smashed box office records over the weekend taking $155 million in its first three days.

Celebrity publicist and author Michael Levine told CBS' The Early Show that the allegations are most serious in the court of public opinion - especially so close to the opening of "The Dark Knight."

"You know, the Batman brand is, of course, heroic and iconic and this has been a brilliantly conceived and even more brilliantly executed PR strategy that's just hitting a crescendo right now," Levine said. "So it's exactly the wrong moment to get this strategy off message. If Batman were a political candidate, this would be getting a candidate off message. And it's a terribly important moment to get back on offense, which is difficult to do when you have an incident like this."

Levine said that billions of dollars are riding on the potential success of the film.

"So right now there's no one that's really indicates that there's a serious criminal charge involved here," he said. "But there is a massive hit to the PR machine that's moving forward at a crescendo pace right now. So it's really damaging to the film promotion."

Other celebrities, like Alec Baldwin, have been through these public family meltdowns and have managed to come out OK. Levine said he could survive this by following four basic rules.

"You have to respond quickly. You have to respond with humility, with personal contrition. And humor always helps," he said. "You'll remember Hugh Grant did very well by using humor. So if you can use those kinds of techniques, you usually do pretty well. If you don't, you usually don't.

[lorio3733]

So much of the coverage on Bale''s arrest has been completely irresponsible and ludicrous. Why are journalists doing this? Because it makes good press, considering the "dark" nature of the batman film? How sad. In England, a verbal tirade against someone is considered "assault." Bale "yelled" at his mother for allegedly insulting his wife and saying some horrid, outrageous things. Who among us has never yelled at our mom, particularly in defense of a loved one? Shame on all you journalists who are frothing at the mouth over the opportunity for sensationalism here. This is a man''s honor and reputation on the line. I hope he lashes out at all of you, too, and deservedly so.

[averjane]

lorio3733

I believe it''s none of anyone''s business anyway about these personal matters with family. You''re right that the media loves to make or break someone. Don''t think for a minute though that they would speculate that it was something this simple. What are his family members doing there anyway if they''re not going to support him? They need to keep their private business to themselves instead of negative attracting attention this way against their son and brother. With family like this who needs enemies?

[misssuzq]

If I were any of the cast, and everyone always asked and talked to me and everyone else about Heath Ledger, I would certainly crack, too!

Heath was not the only one working on this film, but because he stupidly overdosed either by accident or on purpose (we really will never know), he is the one that is highlighted.

Yes, it is said he did a great job, but so did the others and they should be recognized as well.

[jennmarie620]

This is a man who has been in the acting industry for over 20 years - and not a single time has his name been associated with any trouble or grand-standing, like other actors'' names have been. He''s never been accused of being egotistical, or having temper problems by anyone he''s worked with. And given that he''s a very famous actor, the hotel he was staying in on Sunday night would have to be at least a four start hotel. Given that, ANY hint of trouble in his room would have prompted employees or other visitors to have called police that night. Since there was none, and his mother and sister went to police the next day, I am going to presume that he did nothing wrong except maybe show them the door and usher them out of it and into the hallway.

Because they felt slighted in whatever way, they took this course of action to cause him embarrassment as retaliation.

It''s appalling that one''s own family would stoop to such levels.

[haldrich]

I am sad for Christian that he has to deal with this right now. I believe his mom and sister are cruel to use the time of his highest success against him, and that they are just ticked at him for whatever reason. I''m sure he has a lot of pressure on him at the moment. Not only is he promoting this film, but he is set to be in four films during 2009. I cannot begin to imagine how busy his schedule must be.

[rational_1]

I gotta go with Bale on this one. Never heard a whiff of negative publicity about the guy before and now that his career is going stratospheric, all of a sudden Mommy Dearest starts popping off. She was probably nagging him about his wife and he probably bumped into her while trying to flee the room. This should blow over soon.

[beader59]

How can his image be damaged over this when we don''t even know if he did anything.

[terimg]

I have to agree with getoffmine.....It''s a sad thing that family can''t just be happy for him...I don''t know alot about Bale, but what I have heard in the past few years, his Mom and sis weren''t even that close to him. Hopefully this will be over soon.

[bobgee_1999]

How can anyone side with either party unless they were there or at least know the people involved? Watching a guy on a movie screen doesn''t mean you know anything about him as a person. This segment was pretty funny if you step back: professional gossips discussing whether or not the gossip was going to hurt Bale.

"People love it when you lose."

[mercurygrand]

It is about time Hollywood hired Americans for acting jobs. Oh I forgot Americans can not act. Get past the english accent. Bale has four movies coming out this year. How much money has to be given away to over acting method actor who likes to hit people. Sounds familiar? Russell Crowe, Bale. Lets not forget the english models also Naomi Campbell. Rubish!