a star guest got drunk at an event I hosted — Ask the Manager

The reader writes:

I hold a position where I host industry events and public interviews. I don’t host any events, I’m just a speaker/presenter (I also work in a related field, but these gigs are freelance and paid for separately).

I agreed to interview someone very prestigious in his field who was launching a new product. It was a big ticketed event, with the expectation that quotes from the interview would be used for content, advertising and promotion. I worked with a PR company that handled similar events and everything was fine.

At this recent event, I showed up 15 minutes before the interview, as requested. The VIP, who I’ll call Lee, arrived looking a bit tipsy, but in good spirits (it was an evening event at a bar, so while being tipsy is obviously not a good thing, it wasn’t what they were in the morning … drinking in the office.) I asked if they wanted to review the interview questions and they said no and that they were going with the flow on stage and that seemed fine.

Alison, I went to the bathroom and in that time (literally about four minutes) Lee finished a full glass of wine and started downing another. All the PR people were there and laughing like it was a party – one of them was the one who brought Lee drinks from the venue’s bar. I was immediately concerned that it was going to be a mess, but Lee is a grown man surrounded by his publicity people who didn’t say anything, so I kept quiet. For what it’s worth, this person could lean toward “creative genius” eccentricity if they were still interesting and articulate, so I hoped they would be.

It wasn’t.

I went on stage, gave Lee a good introduction and they went on stage – and surprisingly, it quickly went wrong. Lee couldn’t speak, started getting frustrated with himself, and I could tell they were about to cry. I shifted the discussion to audience feedback on the need for a new product, early reviews, etc. to give Lee a few minutes to catch his breath. As someone in the audience spoke, I quietly asked Lee if they wanted me to wrap it up, but they said they wanted to hear some more feedback. I could see the audience a little bit, but I could see that Lee was not feeling calmer, and the audience was aware of it. I tried to end it as elegantly as possible, after which Lee became audibly upset, saying that they had ruined the event. The PR people escorted Lee back to their hotel, only to mention to me on the way out that Lee hadn’t eaten anything before drinking, was very nervous about the event, and had had an extremely busy week.

I feel down and a little sick. I feel like I was unwittingly involved in getting someone with a drinking problem, a lot of anxiety, or both, pushed in front of a crowd when they were in a bad state. I’ve never been in this position before, and I feel like I should have tried to say something in the three minutes we had before going on stage, or maybe finish the “interview” sooner. At the time we started, I was genuinely trying to figure out how to give the product some focus and discussion without drawing attention to Lee’s behavior — but in retrospect, I think it was so obvious to the audience that Lee was drunk , that I should have taken them off the stage immediately, instead of continuing to sit on the stage for 15 minutes.

It’s so obvious that Lee wasn’t in a good place that I can’t be mad at them, I’m just sad for them — but I’m annoyed at the PR team for ignoring Lee’s excitement with me and giving them two drinks for literally five minutes before we went on stage. In addition to Lee’s well-being, I also worry that I looked unprofessional to the audience and that the discomfort of the event will rub off on me, and since I’m a freelancer, this is very important to me in terms of future work.

I’m not sure if I need to say anything to the PR company. They’re obviously aware that it didn’t go as planned for them or the product launch, so sending a message later might seem like stating the obvious?

We also pre-agreed on a fee that was based on the assumption that I would conduct a 45-minute interview with Lee, which obviously did not happen. Should I expect the full amount? I did all my research and preparation and came in ready to do my job, but I know they didn’t get what they needed. I don’t know what to expect in terms of payment?

You must be paid for the work you agreed to do. You took the time, prepared and came in ready to do the job and then handled a very difficult situation very gracefully. Nothing here guarantees a reduction in your commission.

If I were you, I’d call your contact at the PR company and say you want to talk about the event and check up on Lee. It will be clear why you are concerned and your contact should have some kind of commentary on what happened, which should naturally lead you to a larger point of closing the event. But if for some reason they don’t, you can say, “That was a difficult situation—was there anything I could have done differently to make it better?” I asked Lee if they wanted to finish early, but they didn’t, so I tried to move on to the product, but I think it was a difficult situation for everyone to navigate.” It’s really just to help keep things more private because it’s weird not having anyone talk to you about it.

But from there you have to send your regular bill and assume they will pay it. It would be really bad of them to deny it, just as it would be bad if they refused to pay you because a VIP got food poisoning on stage and had to cut the night short or something that short circuited the interview stage .