PR experts weigh in on how the Roys should handle Succession's current batch of crises

[This piece discusses spoilers from Succession.]

This Sunday, the Roys will finally return to our TV screens to once again vie for a kiss from daddy, act like total assholes to everyone around them, and continue their reign as the finest users of the expression “fuck off” the world has ever seen. Ahead of Succession’s season three premiere, which picks up where a cliffhanger ending involving a corporate public relations crisis left off, The Ringer decided to ask a few PR experts how they would handle trying to keep Waystar Royco from completely falling apart despite its C-suite’s constant issues.

Starting with Kendall’s press conference at the very end of season 2, a trio of crisis management experts explain that the Roy family’s Sadsack-in-Chief could probably expect the move to blow up in his own face because, in the end, he can’t separate himself entirely from his family business just by blaming his dad for some of its most heinous actions.

The experts then advise Logan (who one of them terrifyingly states is the character “most familiar to me in my professional practice”) to respond by lying low for a bit and coming back with a comprehensive plan that may, in part, involve talking publicly about how unreliable Kendall is because of his drug use and failed corporate coup.

We learn more about how Kendall could handle the PR fight with his dad that’s likely going to take up much of Succession’s third season and, when it comes to the various problems Logan has on his hands, hear from two of the experts that he probably ought to just “let the company go” or “just throw in the towel” to salvage whatever of Waystar he can for those next in line.

They also suggest that, since all of the Roy kids are “horrible people in every aspect,” none of them should take over the business and instead bring in a third party. Also, regarding Cousin Greg’s place in the family: “He should talk to a lawyer.”

Hill Impact CEO and founder Dan Hill sums up the general thrust of the thought exercise at one point in the interview, stating: “I want to make it very clear I wouldn’t work for any of these people.”

This seems like the prevailing sentiment among all of them. “I think I would advise—jeez, I’d get the fuck out of there,” ThreeSixty Public Strategies principal, Rachel Laing says while thinking through another question. “It’s such a toxic, horrible place. That’s all I can think of when I look at this whole situation. My skin is crawling.”

Read more over at The Ringer.

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