The Sidebar

2/10/15 UPDATE: Media watchdog Jim Romenesko picked up my "Lyin' Bryan?" item.




Via the October 2012 issue of People Country magazine:


Here are my items to date about my unsuccessful attempts to verify Bryan's claim:

September 23, 2012: Who's the "mystery friend" that rescued Nashville singing star Luke Bryan from choking? His people won't tell me and the editor of People Country -- the magazine that broke the story -- isn't interested

November 8, 2012: Was country music star Luke Bryan lyin' about being rescued from choking? Not even his mother will back up the story

January 29, 2013: Nashville singer Luke Bryan's managers refuse to back up his "Heimlich choking rescue" story -- and an invitation to reporters to slice this baloney

August 29, 2013: Was Billboard #1 singer Luke Bryan lyin' about being saved in a dramatic choking rescue? He won't answer me, so any reporters or fans want to ask him? Here's his tour schedule and contact info

Obviously I don't have the swat to get an answer from Team Bryan, so along the way I've sent the information to reporters in Nashville and elsewhere. To my knowledge, no one has followed-up.

What happens next?

A. Nothing.

B. A journalist asks Team Bryan for the who/what/where/when, perhaps contacts me for a reaction comment, and reports the results.

C. Someone writes him a "Dear Luke" fan letter asking him the following questions, forwards the correspondence to me, and I blog the results:

- What was the date of the choking incident?
- What's the name and location of the pizza restaurant?
- What's the name of your friend who performed the Heimlich maneuver?
- Based on your description ("I went down"), did you lose consciousness?
- Did you subsequently seek medical care? If so, what's the name of the doctor who examined you?

Re: options B and C, here are the offices of Red Light Management, based in Charlottesville, VA, the entertainment company that handles Bryan.

source

Via Luke Bryan expected to stay #1 on Billboard for second week, Nashville Gab.com, November 29, 2013:

Last week, Luke Bryan sold an incredible 527,783 units of his new album "Crash My Party," placing him firmly at #1 on the Billboard 200. This week comes word that he's once again expected to be at #1.

Via The Atlantic, March 11, 2013:

On his blog, (Peter Heimlich) urges journalists to investigate potentially fraudulent stories about the maneuver being successfully used -- was country star Luke Bryan telling People Country magazine the truth about an errant piece of flatbread pizza?

People Country magazine, October 2012

My previous Sidebar items:

September 23, 2012: Who's the "mystery friend" that rescued Nashville singing star Luke Bryan from choking? His people won't tell me and the editor of People Country -- the magazine that broke the story -- isn't interested

November 8, 2012: Was country music star Luke Bryan lyin' about being rescued from choking? Not even his mother will back up the story.

 January 29, 2013: Nashville singer Luke Bryan's managers refuse to back up his "Heimlich choking rescue" story -- and an invitation to reporters to slice this baloney

If the story is fiction, I wonder if first responders or others who have participated in life or death choking incidents would be amused?

If any reporters or fans want to ask Bryan or his manager for details -- date of the incident, his friend's name, the name/location of the restaurant -- click here for his tour dates.

He's managed by Red Light Management, a powerhouse agency based in Charlottesville, VA headed by industry mogul Coran Capshaw. He's at (434)245-4900.

Per this e-mail exchange, one of Capshaw's employees promised to answer my questions, then disappeared. My guess is he checked with his client and discovered that the entire story was cooked.

If anyone follows through, I'd be interesting in learning the results.

UPDATE: Via The Grand Vision of Dr. Heimlich, After the Maneuver Limelight by Lindsay Abrams, The Atlantic, March 11, 2013: 

On his blog, (Peter Heimlich) urges journalists to investigate potentially fraudulent stories about the maneuver being successfully used -- was country star Luke Bryan telling People Country magazine the truth about an errant piece of flatbread pizza?

Is there an ambitious reporter out there who wants to help move this story forward?

Possible headline: 

"Top country music star may have pulled a mini Manti T'eo."

It starts with this interview in People Country magazine's October 2012 issue:


The dramatic lifesaving event got picked up reporter Alison Bonaguro for Country Music Television and dozens of other web sites that report about the country music scene.

But, as I've reported, when I asked Team Bryan to supply the who/what/were/when details, they all gave me the silent treatment.

The singer, his publicist, his managers -- even Luke's mother -- wouldn't cough up any facts to substantiate his claim.

Why so shy? Why isn't Luke praising his friend who may have saved his life, and posing with him in Billboard or the Nashville Tennessean?

Could it be that -- say it ain't so, Luke -- the story's baloney?

Flyer that accompanied a credit card bill I received this week

Bryan recently started his first major tour as a headline act and, according to his website, he's booked all over the country through most of this year. So I've been casually pitching the story to reporters in towns and cities where he's slated to perform.

A few weeks ago I got a bite from a game young reporter.

She sent my who/what/where/questions to Zach Peters, assistant to Coran Capshaw, founder/president of Red Light Management, "the largest independent management firm in the world, with roughly 60 managers representing close to 200 acts, including Dave Matthews Band, Phish, Tim McGraw, Faith Hill, Alecia Keys, Miley Cyrus, Luke Bryan, Kool & the Gang, R. Kelley, Steve Angelo, and many others," according to Billboard.

Per my previous item, Zach promised to answer my questions, but then disappeared.

As you can see, game young reporter managed to get a reply from Zach. But, minus an explanation, he informed her the barn door had closed on questions about Luke's "Heimlich rescue."



Game young reporter then wrote me that her editor decided to drop the story. (Unlike her editor, she deserves an A for effort, so as a courtesy, I redacted her name and the name of the paper.)

Her loss, another scribbler's gain?

That depends on whether anyone else considers it newsworthy -- and is willing to report -- that a popular rising star may have fabricated a choking rescue story.

Cynthia Sanz (source)

Here's another peg for media hounds.

Per a previous item, when I asked People Country editor Cynthia Sanz to fact-check the story and to provide me with the name of the reporter who conducted the interview, she refused.

People Country may not be the New Yorker, but it's a Time Inc. property and according to Time's website (my emphasis):

Finally, above all else, Time Inc. stands for journalistic integrity. Time Inc.'s founder Henry Luce wrote that Time Inc. is "principally a journalistic enterprise and, as such, an enterprise to be operated in the public interest as well as in the interest of its stockholders." This commitment is still carried throughout all of Time Inc.'s journalism today, providing unbiased reporting and trusted editing in each of our approximately 125 titles.

Click here to download a copy of Time's most recent editorial guidelines.

Sports Illustrated, another Time-owned publication, had to wipe major egg off its face because of the Manti T'eo hoax. 

Will Ms. Sanz's refusal to fact-check Bryan's dubious story turn out to be another embarrassment for the parent company?

If anyone wants to ask contact her or other Time executives, click here and go to page 7. 


This item has been revised.

Luke Bryan performs "Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye" at Country Music Association Awards show, Nashville, 11/1/12 (source)

About six weeks ago, I reported about this claim made by popular Nashville singer Luke Bryan in an interview published in the October issue of People Country magazine:

I had a friend do the Heimlich on me in a pizza restaurant. It was pretty freaky there for about 30 seconds. A piece of flatbread pizza flaked off and got lodged in my airway, and I went down. He picked me up and got it out of there!

Since then I've made all best efforts to verify the facts with Bryan, his representatives, and even his mother.

None of them will back up his story.

Per my previous item, when I tried to get answers to the following questions, Bryan's publicist declined to participate and his Nashville managers failed to respond to multiple inquiries.

• What was the date of the incident?
• Who was the the friend who rescued Bryan? 
• Did he lose consciousness? 
• Did he seek medical care? 
• What's the name and address of the pizza restaurant?

Next I informed People Country editor Cynthia Sanz that Bryan's representatives wouldn't back up the story and asked if she intended to fact-check it.

She declined.

Meanwhile I've thrice-tweeted Bryan:


No reply.

Since Team Bryan was giving me the silent treatment and People Country apparently didn't care whether what they published was accurate, I decided to ask Luke's mother, LeClaire Bryan of Leesburg, GA.

Normally I wouldn't bother a relative, but Mrs. Bryan didn't appear to be a shrinking violet. On the contrary, she's been quoted in a number of media reports about her famous son and per his website, they've even co-hosted a TV show.

Host Nan Kelley, Luke Bryan, LeClaire Bryan, Great American Country TV, May 2010 (source - and click here for the video)

Also, what mother whose son was rescued by the Heimlich maneuver wouldn't be tickled to hear from Dr. Heimlich's son?

I speak from experience. Since my father introduced the treatment in 1974, countless people have told me that they or their loved ones were saved from choking by the maneuver and would I please thank my father on their behalf? 

That wasn't Mrs. Bryan's reaction.

Although she was extremely cordial and gave no indication that my call was an intrusion, she refused to discuss the purported choking incident and informed me I'd have to talk her son's managers.

Huh?

I explained that I'd already made repeated attempts to do so and that the only reason I was reaching out to her was because they wouldn't provide me with the information.

Again she insisted that she wouldn't discuss the matter, so I didn't press it.

However, I did ask if she'd forward my questions to her son. She agreed and shared her e-mail address with me. I then e-mailed her my questions and a subsequent follow-up asking if she'd forwarded the information to Luke.

I didn't receive a reply from her or from anyone else. (Page down for my correspondence.)

Coran Capshaw flanked by his clients, Dave Matthews and Boyd Tinsley of the Dave Matthews Band (source)

Next I contacted Coran Capshaw, the founder/president of Bryan's powerhouse management company, Red Light Management. Capshaw -- who launched the Dave Matthews Band and whose company handles a stable of big name talent -- was second in this year's Billboard Power 100 list of major players in the music industry.

Later that day his assistant Zach Peters got back to me via a receptive e-mail. At his request, we then had a cordial phone call. Peters wanted to know more about the story I was reporting, so I showed him my previous blog item and explained that I hadn't reached any conclusions, but I didn't understand why no one would provide answers to my questions.

Peters promised to make inquiries and to provide me with the answers to my who/what/where/when questions.

Weeks went by and I didn't receive any responses to the follow-up e-mails I sent him and his boss. (Page down for that correspondence.)

So did the choking incident really happen?

If not -- and I repeat if -- why would anyone fabricate such a claim?

Per my previous item, choking rescues involving celebrities generate a passel of positive media coverage.

The Bryan story was no exception -- it was picked up by dozens of country music websites.

If the story is fiction -- yes, another if -- I wonder if first responders and others who have participated in life or death choking incidents would be amused?

Since Luke Bryan and his people seem to be playing hide and seek with me, there's not much more I can do except send them the item you're reading with an invitation to respond.

I hope the story turns out to be true.

One last if.

If any Sidebar readers ask Bryan or his representatives about this, I'd be interested in learning the results. Click here for his tour schedule.


APPENDED 11/8/12, 12:35pm: My invitation to Red Light Management to respond to the above item:


My correspondence with LeClaire Bryan:



My correspondence with Red Light Management, October 10-November 2, 2012:

source: ContactMusic.com

Choking rescues involving celebrities are a press agent's dream come true.

For example, last May at a Pittsburgh restaurant, Cincinnati Reds third baseman Todd Frazier reportedly performed the Heimlich maneuver on a fellow diner who was choking, helping to remove a piece of steak caught in the man's throat.

Scores of glowing media reports resulted from the episode. My father even got into the act to present Frazier with a Heimlich Institute "Save-A-Life" award.

source

Which leads me to this quote from an unsigned interview in the current issue of People Country magazine. (Click here to view the the cover.)


The story was picked up by dozens of web sites such as DJ Ken Hayes of KKCB-FM (Duluth, MN) who blogged:

We’d hate to lose one of country music’s hottest artists! Luke is nominated for CMA’s Male Vocalist and Album of the year!

Needless to say, I'm delighted Mr. Bryan survived what sounds like a terrifying, life-threatening incident.

But how about some praise for the unnamed buddy who Heimlich-ed him?

Over the past week I've made best efforts to obtain the friend's name and other details from Byran's press agent and his personal managers. 

source

Here's what I wanted to find out, just some basic who/what/where/whens:

1) What was the date of the event? (Mr. Bryan said it happened, "last Monday.")

2) What's the name and location of the pizza restaurant?

3) What's the name of Mr. Bryan's friend who performed the Heimlich maneuver on him?

4) Based on his description ("I went down"), it appears that Mr. Bryan may have lost consciousness. Is that accurate?

5) Did Mr. Bryan subsequently seek medical care?

6) What's the name of the People Country reporter who interviewed Mr. Bryan?

I assumed they'd be eager to provide the information. The son of the doctor famous for the medical treatment that may have saved their client's life wants to write it up? Where's the downside?  

I assumed wrong.

Bryan's publicist Taryn Pray at EMI/Capitol Records declined to provide any information.

Taryn Pray (source)

And his personal managers, Kerri Edwards and Waylon Weatherholt of Red Light Management, failed to respond to multiple inquiries.

source

Since those turned out to be dead ends, I assumed People Country would be interested. They might even want to report an upbeat follow-up with an all-smiles photo of Bryan and his heroic friend showing how he performed the Heimlich maneuver on the singer.

I've really got to get over this habit of assuming. 


On September 19, I exchanged e-mails with editor Cynthia Sanz. I sent her copies of my correspondence with Bryan's people and asked:

1. The interview with Mr. Bryan didn't include a byline. What's the name of your reporter who obtained the quote?

2. What was the date of the interview?
 
3. Does People Country intend to fact-check the information? If so, would you please courtesy-copy me?

Here's her same-day reply that ignored all my questions:

Cynthia Sanz (source)

It's unclear why Ms. Sanz and the singer's representatives don't seem interested in giving Luke Bryan's rescuer friend the recognition he deserves, but perhaps others will.



This item was updated with the September 24, 2012 tweet to Mr. Bryan.