Peter Shankman, it turns out, has quite a following.  He has a few PR 'products' that appear to be very good and useful.  He has a very appealing business model and is, basically, going to put ProfNet out of business.

I found out about HARO and subscribed to see what it was all about.  I checked out his website.  A picture of him at the top of the home page showed an attractive man - obviously taken much earlier in his very busy life.  When I heard he was going to appear on O'Reilly, I made it a point to tune in.  The subject was: Did Kellogg's do the right thing in dumping that Olympic swimmer?  Shankman took the position that no, they shouldn't have done it.  I disagreed.  So I sent Shankman an email saying so.  To add a touch of my twisted humor, I added a comment that sent him into outer space.  I wrote: 

Caught you on O'Reilly last night.  You are wrong.  Kellogg's was right.  You are also fat.  Eat more Special K.

Tony

He didn't appreciate the critique of his appearance and asked my permission to post that email on his blog.  I thought it was pretty classy of someone to ask permission and I had no clue that he was so upset, so I said yes.  He did so, but he added his spin, casting aspersions on my background, judgment and overall abilities as a PR professional with 40+ years of experience.  His fans, for the most part, agreed with him.

Then he said on his blog that I apologized and admitted I should have known better.  Not so.  I did not apologize.  Here's exactly what I told him:

Peter – You invited my blogable response.  After you took such humbrage over my emailed remarks meant originally just to be between thee and me, you asked my permission to blog them.  I said fine because I think it’s a pretty classy thing to ask first.  I then became a fan of your FB page and asked to be your FB friend – we have two mutual friends.  You wanted clarification from me before accepting my invitation.  This is what I wrote:

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No insult intended. Had I known you would be so sensitive to the comment (which was just a setup for the Special K remark), I wouldn't have made it. I am fat, old and have a big nose. Are we even now? Can we move ahead? BTW, I admire your accomplishments... think you have an excellent business model.. and wish you well whatever you decide.

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And for the record, yes, you called both my numbers but you did not leave a message.  Your calls came through as ‘unknown’ and I don’t respond to unknown callers without screening them first.  Had you left a message, I would have picked up or returned your call immediately.

To your bloggers:  I was not looking for attention… for eyeballs on my website… and I’d just as soon see this dustup settled so we can all get on with our lives.  Also, I do not send anonymous communications and was not drunk.  It’s like 9:40am, fer crissake!.  O’Reilly caught hell last night for implying someone looked like a witch.  Even the best screw up sometimes.  The world needs to lighten up.

Cheers,

Tony

Well, he never posted my response.  He read it as an apology.  Where does it say "I'm sorry?"  Where does it say "I apologize?"  No where.  That is the conclusion of an egotistical sleezeball.... an egotistical sleezeball who really does need to eat more Special K.

He has deleted me from his HALO list and denied my request to be a facebook friend.  Although I am a fan of his on facebook, I am removing my membership as soon as I am done here.  May our paths never cross again.  The guy can't be trusted.  He can't handle the truth.


Just wanted to set the record straight.