Matt Rich (publicist)

Matt Rich (born October 13, 1954 in Riverside, California) is an American public relations executive known for working with luminaries including Donald Trump, Halston, Randolph Duke, Patty Hearst, Judy Collins, Dottie Frank, Jackie Onassis, Victoria Gotti and the Gotti family.

Matt Rich
Rich in 2012

Biography

After graduating from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy in 1977, Rich moved to New York City and became a protégée of designer Roy Halston Frowick, better known simply as Halston. They fell in with the fashion crowd of the time: Andy Warhol, Truman Capote, Liza Minnelli, and Calvin Klein, and Rich took a job as an assistant publicist for Studio 54.[1]

A 1995 New York Magazine article described the scene at Studio 54, quoting Rich: "One night, P.R. agent Matthew Rich watched a model spy a rolled-up $100 bill between some cushions on a sofa in Studio's celebrities-only basement. 'She unrolled, snorted it, licked it, and then threw it on the ground, having gotten what she wanted.' Rich says."[2]

Rich worked with author Dottie Frank and was mentioned by name in the dedications of her best-selling novels Plantation[3] and Isle of Palms.[4]

Rich was Jackie Onassis' press agent for her last public appearance at Grand Central station for the hundredth anniversary of the Municipal Art Society. Onassis said of his ability to get reporters out of her way: "Matthew, you commanded those press just like a field marshal!"[5]

In 1989, Rich founded the boutique firm PlanetPR. The New York Post has called him a "p.r. powerhouse."[6]

Today, he includes among his clients Stephen Baldwin and Rachel Hirschfeld. He ceased work as Victoria Gotti’s press agent after she pretended to have breast cancer for publicity's sake, a move he did not endorse. [7] Since 1997, Rich has worked as a consultant for Donald Trump's Miss Universe Organization. He frequently accompanies Miss Universe, Miss USA and Miss Teen USA to red-carpet events.[8]

Rich was included in a 2013 episode of Celebrity Apprentice 6 (Season 13) wherein Baldwin insisted to other competitors: "Call Matt Rich!"[9]

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References
  1. Gross, Michael (May 1, 1995). Model: the ugly business of beautiful women. W. Morrow. p. 343.
  2. Gross, Michael (3 April 1995). "The Dawn of the Supermodel". New York Magazine. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  3. Frank, Dorothea (1 March 2004). Plantation. Penguin.
  4. Frank, Dorothea (2005). Isle of Palms. Penguin. p. XVI.
  5. "Her Friends Remember Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis". New York Magazine. 30 May 1994. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  6. Gotti, Victoria (19 January 2003). "Victoria Gotti". New York Post. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  7. "Report: Gotti Breast Cancer a Sham". Fox News. 24 August 2005. Retrieved 21 March 2014.
  8. Roosevelt, Ava. "Pageantry Redefined". South Florida Opulence. Retrieved 25 March 2014.
  9. TheRealPlanetPR (26 April 2013). "Call Matt Rich" – via YouTube.
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