Amy Adams exits the funeral of Philip Seymour Hoffman at St. Ignatius Church on Manhattan's Upper East Side in New York City on February 7, 2014. UPI/John Angelillo |
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NEW YORK, Feb. 9 (UPI) -- It's common practice for designers to alert the press to photos of celebrities wearing their products, But Valentino's decision to issue a press release about the handbag Amy Adams wore to Philip Seymour Hoffman's funeral was not well-received.
“We are pleased to announce Amy Adams carrying the Valentino Garavany Rockstud Duble bag from the Spring/Summer 2014 collection on Feb. 6 in New York,” Valentino PR rep Upasna Khosla wrote in a press release sent to journalists on Friday. The email included photos of Adams carrying the red bag out of Hoffman's private funeral at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Home in Manhattan on Thursday.
Adams, who starred in 2009's Doubt and 2012's The Master with Hoffman, was obviously not pleased. Her publicist told the New York Post on Friday that "Amy Adams is not a paid spokesperson for Valentino, and the suggestion she would use this moment to participate in a promotion is truly appalling."
Valentino's VP of communications, Mona Swanson, apologized in a statement, calling the press release "an innocent mistake."
"We sincerely regret releasing a photo to the media … of Amy Adams with a Valentino Bag," Swanson said. "We were not aware the photograph was taken while she was attending the wake of Philip Seymour Hoffman. It was an innocent mistake and we apologise to Ms Adams who was not aware, or a part of, our PR efforts."
The company also tweeted an apology:
Adams reportedly broke down when discussing Hoffman during a recent taping of
Inside the Actor's Studio.
“Amy talked about how he was the greatest actor she had worked with, and couldn't even tell stories about him without crying," a witness
told Us Weekly. "She said to the audience of acting students, 'I wish you all could have had the chance to work with him.'"
[New York Post, Us Weekly, The Guardian]
