Last night I spoke with top celebrity publicist Marvet Britto via phone. She was very concerned that her 15-year reputation as one of the industry’s most credible publicists was being tarnished by an unscrupulous blogger (who no one has ever heard of).
Britto, who founded the prestigious Britto Agency in NYC, wanted my readers to know that while she does represent the publicity and production interests of mediatakeout.com, she is not involved in the content of that website. And to prove her point, Britto called an Atlanta friend, Lisa, by three-way who told me that she asked Britto to intercede on behalf of another friend who wanted a post removed from MTO.
“If she was the owner that post would have been removed,” said Lisa.
Britto, who was calling from a yacht in the Bahamas, also cleared up the rumor that she represented Usher’s ex-wife Tameka Foster-Glover. “At no time have I ever represented Tameka Foster-Glover. At no time!,” said Britto adamantly.
“I don’t want to work with Tameka Foster. It wasn’t about whether she could afford me. I’m sure the mother of Usher’s two children can afford to hire me. I know her. She’s cool. She’s sweet. I represent corporations and brands. I’m very particular with the folks I work with. We never even discussed me representing her. We never got into that,” said Britto, who represents rapper Plies, and actor/author Hill Harper, among others.
Rumor had it that Foster-Glover approached Britto earlier this year and asked her for representation while she went through that nasty divorce from Usher. Apparently, Foster-Glover had heard that Britto did wonders for the image of Sean Combs’ baby mama Kim Porter. But Britto insisted that she and Porter are only close friends (Britto is the Godmother of Sean and Kim’s twin girls).
“Tameka is friends with [former R&B singer] Pebbles who I’m very close to and… I don’t represent Kim Porter. I don’t represent the reality [TV] people. I just don’t do that…. As far as representing people through divorces, I just have never done that. I represent people for long term. I don’t just come on board for certain situations. I do crises, but I only do that for people that I represent on an ongoing basis.”
Britto strongly denied allegations that she feeds information about her celebrity clients to MTO. “I don’t get involved with Fred’s content,” said Britto, referring to Fred Mwangaguhunga, a former corporate lawyer-turned gossip blog owner.
“He writes negative stories trashing my clients. At the end of the day my clients would be thrilled if I could keep them off of it,” said Britto who frequently contributes to CNN and CBS.
“I build brands. I’m the branding person to assist [Fred] with bringing his TV show to life. I don’t own Mediatakeout. Give me a break! Our relationship is strictly business. In the beginning I told him ‘I’m not going to get involved in your content so don’t ask me anything.’ I’m a publicist, not a gossip columnist.”
