World Health Organization Hires PR Firm to Find Celebrity Influencers to Counter Negative Publicity

Under fire from President Trump for its botched handling of the coronavirus pandemic, the World Health Organization has reached out to a high powered PR firm with the mission to find celebrity influencers who can sing the praises of the embattled United Nations agency and boost its public image.

The WHO signed a $135,000 contract on May 1 with Hill + Knowlton Strategies to reach out to influencers of all stripes, including celebrities with more than 1 million followers on social media, according to documents filed this week to the Justice Department.

Hill + Knowlton outlined a plan of action in its proposal that was included in the filing.

“There has been criticism and assertions leveled against the World Health Organization (WHO) and media coverage that could undermine WHO as a trusted and critical information source on global public health issues,” the PR firm wrote. The objective is to “ensure there is trust in the WHO’s advice and that public health guidance is followed.”

In addition to celebrity influencers, Hill + Knowlton said that it will identify “microinfluencers” who have smaller, niche followings, as well as lesser known people such as health experts who appear on news programs.

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The Disturbing Rise of Anti-Semitism Among Black Celebs

Recently, big-name Black entertainers like Ice Cube, Nick Cannon, Diddy, the Jacksons (Stephen and DeSean), and even beloved Black author Alice Walker, have spouted age-old anti-Semitic talking points—usually by quoting known bigot Louis Farrakhan—insisting that “the Jews” run everything, and locating Black liberation in anti-Jewish suspicion. 

On his podcast, Cannon spoke to fellow anti-Semitic conspiracist Professor Griff, formerly of Public Enemy (he was kicked out of the group for his anti-Jewishness, specifically for calling Jews “wicked”), agreeing with Griff’s racist view that Jewish people control media and claiming that “Semitic people are Black people” so Black people cannot be anti-Semitic. After Cannon was dropped by ViacomCBS for his comments, Diddy then took to Instagram and invited Cannon to his network RevoltTV. On July 4th, Diddy’s RevoltTV broadcast a speech by Farrakhan—a man who has praised Hitler and repeatedly calls Jews “Satanic”—worldwide, and also shared a Farrakhan video on Twitter in which the Nation of Islam leader called the Jewish head of the Anti-Defamation League, Jonathan Greenblatt, “Satan” and claimed that “those of you that say you are the Jews, I will not even give you the honor of calling you a Jew. You are not a Jew. You are Satan, and it is my job now to pull the cover off of Satan so that every Muslim when he sees Satan, pick up a stone, as we do in Mecca.” 

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