Often when thinking about crises in public relations I think of celebrities. I am a cheerleader and with the cheer world growing as fast and as crazy as it is, there are often scandals that come to surface with people in the public eye. The first situation I thought of while reading the instructions for this paper was the Navarro cheer team. The show Cheer, on Netflix, is a documentary based on the Navarro cheer program. They have won NCA College Nationals 16 times and have many of the famous “cheerleberties” on their team. Since the TV series aired, the athletes have gained a ton of exposure. Many athletes have appeared on Ellen and several other television shows. But this fame came at a price. Having your name in the spotlight isn't always a good thing. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dhXRx_lva18
The first season of Cheer aired in 2021. Quickly the cast was loved by the viewers. Many of the viewers were very young. I have watched the show at least twice. The show shed some light on how intense cheerleading is and helped people to create a new respect for the sport. But with love also comes hate. In 2022, a male athlete by the name of Jerry Harris was arrested and accused of sexual harassment and child pornography. Prior to these accusations, Jerry Harries was one of the most loved cheerleaders in the cheer world. After the show aired, he became known for his “mat talk” and oftentimes would be asked to “mat talk” different celebrities during interviews he was on. Jerry was a guest star on Ellen, and was interviewed with President Joe Biden and an interviewer at the Oscars. Since Jerry was so influential in the cheer world, these allegations came as such a shock to everyone. No one could understand how someone with so much joy could do something so horrible. On July 6th, 2022, Jerry Harris was sentenced to 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to two of seven federal charges related to sex crimes involving minors.
On July 20th, just before her team was supposed to head to Dallas TX to be a part of the SMU cheer camp, she made another post stating that all allegations had been dropped and her suspension was lifted. Monica made many social media posts after the allegations against Jerry Harris, but not one of her posts said she stood with the victims of assault. She stated the news was shocking and she was praying for everyone involved. I feel she definitely could have done more to be on the side of the victims versus the side of her former athlete Jerry Harris.
With all these sexual assault cases coming to head, the cheer world’s reputation has been damaged. Something that was supposed to help outsiders take cheerleading more seriously and help them understand the hard work that is put into winning a National Championship title, has come with much inexcusable backlash that no one could have expected. While watching the show for the first time in 2021 I was even more excited and proud to be a part of cheer. The show portrayed the cheerleaders as the hard-working dedicated athletes I know we are. And cheer as a competitive and thrilling sport. But since the show aired there has been so much negativity that's been released about sexual assault by certain athletes and coaches in the cheer world. This sexual assault has taken place in colleges and competitive gyms. As sad as I am about the negative press, I am glad the sexual assault has been brought out of the shadows. As an athlete myself, we have to do better in protecting the victims in these situations and do what we can to prevent this from happening in the future. Athletes of all kinds need to know they are safe from predators while participating in the sport they love.
