Are H&M due in London this week for the GQ Man of The Year Awards?

[Glorified]

Think that MM was tipped for an honorary award for her charity work - will they be likely to attend in person?

Well, given the event happened last night and Meghan wasn’t there….no. 😀

The Sun seems to have been the first to publish an article saying she would be receiving an award, at the event. So I’d say take that with a large grain of salt - but they did have lengthy quotes from a “source” in their article saying lots of flattering things about the Duchess. So maybe this was a PR puff piece planted to get good stories in the press but not actually factual? From the original article:

A source said: “Meghan has been offered one of the top awards of the evening so it’s a massive coup for her. She already has a close relationship with GQ due to her friendship with Vogue’s Editor-In-Chief Edward Enninful which is also owned by Conde Nast. Edward is very much seen as a friend rather than a business acquaintance.”

Insiders said the change of date from September to November was put in place to accommodate Meghan and Prince Harry. The source said “Due to their mini tour of Europe Meghan wouldn’t have been able to attend if awards went ahead on their original date in September.”

mini tour 😀

Ahh thanks for that update.

Who and why would anyone pitch the original “fake” news story story?

Is there an agenda from one side or another?

Or is it just a media outlet after click bait?

Who and why would anyone pitch the original “fake” news story story?

Looking at the story, there are three possibilities.

One, the Sun made it all up, including the quotes, to generate clicks. Absolutely could be true!

Two, it was planted by a PR firm to drum up interest about the GQ awards. There’s not a great deal of information about the awards themselves though, - it does say that getting their top award is a “coup” but that’s pretty much it. You’d expect the awards to be bigged up a lot if it’s PR from them.

Three it was planted by a PR firm to enhance the reputation of Meghan. Given the quotes mention that she’s been offered a “top” award, which is a “coup”, that she already knows Edward Enninful (who is highly thought of) and he’s a “friend” not just a business contact, and she’s so important that they were prepared to shift the whole awards ceremony so she could attend - it’s quite clear who’s being bigged up here. So if it’s PR, it’s most likely come from Meghan.

But why would MM’s team do that if she wasn’t awarded it - or even if she was awarded it and didn’t accept it (maybe it was conditional on her attending - and she was unable to?)

Did this story only run in The Sun? I doubt MM or even GQ team would work with them on an exclusive? Not their target audience.

If the story appeared simultaneously elsewhere it might make sense that either GQ or MM were behind it for PR puff of the awards.

Likely just The Sun fabrication - this time with a positive story which probably generated plenty of clicks either way.

Not their target audience.

...but nevertheless their only audience.

But why would MM’s team do that if she wasn’t awarded it

Because people would remember the story without bothering to cross check later with whether she actually received one?

But equally likely it was Sun clickbait.

It’s not the first time there have been stories in the press speculating that Meghan and Harry are on the guest list for big events - the Oscars, the Met Costime Gala, the Brooklyn Beckham/Nicola Peltz wedding are all good examples. In all these cases, they aren’t true. Most are in the US press (so not the Sun making things up there), but this one was in the UK. There’s definitely a pattern here.

And also - in response to your questions as to why Meghan’s team would do this - that’s because that’s literally what you pay a PR team to do. To influence and work collaboratively with the media to keep their client’s name in the press, and to try and control the narrative to make sure that press coverage reflects the image their client want to convey (i.e. top of the guest list for any big and exclusive celebrity event, sought after for prestigious awards etc).

Maybe she attended 3 days ago ; just her , H and the award .

@Readinginthesun 😂

and she’s so important that they were prepared to shift the whole awards ceremony so she could attend

That doesn't make sense.

The original date was 7 Sept, when the Sussexes were in the UK (with engagements on 5th and planned for 8th) so that would have been very convenient timing. And of course people will remember that because of the death of ER II on the 8th

Agreed. It is an easy story to make up. It takes 5 minutes to write. No one is going to sue and it gets clicks on social media/websites.

A new award ?

I'd give her a reward for running a podcast without ever having talked to half the people featured on it and conveniently glossing over that detail despite having such a lot to say about everything.

award

Agree 👏👏

That's how podcasts tend to be pieced to together. She interviews the main guests (Sophie Trudeau, Lisa Ling, Issa Rae, Ziwe, Serena etc acknowledged a conversation with her)..while the contributing guests or experts record their own segments.

Unless you mean something different? I am genuinely confused.

What are we agreeing with?