The PR Show - Part 1: grantLOVE: A vehicle for self-promotion

Important note: 

On June 19, 2021, the SSL certificate was removed from Alexandra Grant's personal website. 

This had the effect of breaking every previous link to her website, including the ones mentioned in the PR articles listed in this post. 

Removing the SSL certificate has changed her web address from https://alexandragrant.com to http://alexandragrant.com. 

Her website is no longer secure.

For a better understanding of this please read Alexandragrant.com - CAUTION. 

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During my research into grantLOVE Project, I noticed an old post (April 2020) by a PR agency called See Hear Speak saying they had just revamped the grantLOVE Project website. I screen captured the post last January (2021) which is why the 9 months is circled. That's how old the post was at the time of the screen capture.

 

This post is a long time coming. I have been sitting on this information for a long time because I knew it would be very challenging to present what the impact of having hired this company would mean for both grantLOVE and Alexandra Grant. 

 

I recently went looking for the See Hear Speak post so that I could get a fresh screen capture and noticed it had been removed. It used to be both on their LinkedIn and Facebook pages. 

 

Despite the fact that post is now gone, I have no doubt that they did revamp the grantLOVE website. I searched on the Internet Archive, The Wayback Machine, to see what it used to look like compared to what it looked like afterwards and it is an improvement.

 

OLD GRANTLOVE WEBSITE

 

https://web.archive.org/web/20200105173758/https://www.grantlove.com/ 

 

 NEW GRANTLOVE WEBSITE

 

https://web.archive.org/web/20200625012416/https://www.grantlove.com/

 

Unfortunately, I also noticed that the prices for merchandise jumped significantly. Hoodies went from $85 to $115 . That's a 26 % increase in price. A blue quilt doubled in price, going from $3000 to $6000.

 

When I delved more deeply to see if there had been any other increases in prices for any other items, the three Love, Love, Love (2018) works jumped out at me. 

 

They were $4000 in January 2019.

https://web.archive.org/web/20190124184543/https://www.grantlove.com/

 

 

Jumped to $10,000 each after Lacma.

https://web.archive.org/web/20191105192822/https://www.grantlove.com/collections/all 

 

And would jump again in price to $12,500, by June 2020. More than triple the original price.

https://web.archive.org/web/20200625011235/https://www.grantlove.com/collections/original-artwork

Hopefully this jump in price was reflected in the amounts donated by grantLOVE when items were purchased. 

 

Unsurprisingly, neither the quilt nor the three Love, Love, Love (2018) works have sold and are still available for purchase.

 

Although the post about revamping the grantLOVE website is no longer on their Linked in page, the promotional video of Alexandra Grant, made from footage that was taken during her solo "Born to Love" show at Lowell Ryan Projects on June 1, 2019, is. 

So clearly, SHS has done PR work for Ms. Grant's personal business as an artist as well as grantLOVE Project.

  

The first part of the video shows Grant. The next clip shows Keanu Reeves. The rest of the video shows some of her artwork and the people in attendance that evening. Grant makes several appearances in the video. The video was shot and edited by Eric Mihn Swenson. 

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/seehearspeakagency_borntolove-activity-6543908651210465280-HWVw/

 

 

But it was only when I visited their website that I got a true sense of how extensive the work SHS did for Ms. Grant truly was. It was a huge eye-opener.

 

I discovered that they were a PR agency that was very specifically geared towards increasing brand awareness through digital PR for arts related clientele.  

 

 'Results-driven public relations agency"

 

"Maximize digital tools with integrated solutions for effective marketing, storytelling, social media, e-commerce, and more."

 

"Integrated campaigns involving digital and PR"

 

"Impactful brand stories that leverage data to drive brand growth and establish identity"

 

 

"Digital Interactions with brands" 

"Experiences that fit your narrative"

"Observe the changing landscape and find the best way to adapt" 

"We keep our ears to the ground"

 

"We have the team to help craft your story and tell it to the right people" 

From what I can gather by analyzing their website, they are very much geared toward storytelling and creating a narrative that will work for your brand and propagating this created narrative through social media and digital PR. The "we keep our ears to the ground" comment implies that they pay attention to what is being said on social media so that they can "observe the changing landscape and adapt" the narrative as they go. This is truly a digital based marketing strategy. They use online resources like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and digital magazines to help establish an identity and narrative that is catered to how you want your brand and/or image to be perceived.  

 

This is not marketing based on reality but perception; and online,  PERCEPTION IS REALITY. If you can make people believe what you are telling them, it becomes truth to them, it becomes fact - whether there is any truth in it or not.

 

Marketing of this nature has been growing exponentially over the last decade. Instagram, especially, is an effective and fantastically cheap marketing tool. Unfortunately, it is also an easy way to dupe the public into believing something that is false. Many Instagramers do it, even celebrities. Public figures diligently try to maintain the image that they have worked very hard to create for themselves. After all, it is their brand.  If others believe what they are portraying, then their branding is working. 

 

Unfortunately, the problem with perpetrating something false on social media, is that you run a very high chance of getting called out on it. Social media users have no fear in exposing lies, and that exposure can cause significant hiccups to your crafted plans; cause story or narrative to unravel and launch you into damage control territory. Which is why, in my opinion, it is always better to be honest - stick with the truth and what's real - that should be your foundation. 

 

But of course, if the truth is not flashy enough to meet your desires, or get the results you want, that's when experts like SHS are hired to help you create something that is believable based on the resources that are at your disposal.

 

So what does Alexandra Grant have at her disposal that can help market her brand globally and help it go viral?

Answer: Her world-renowned friend and business partner, Keanu Reeves.

 

I believe Alexandra Grant has been heavily manipulating and leveraging Keanu Reeves’ highly loyal fan base into establishing name and brand recognition for herself both as an artist and a philanthropist; and it appears she used grantLOVE funds to do it. 

 

Why do I believe she used grantLOVE funds to do it?

 

Because when I looked at See Hear Speak's co-founder and Director of Communications, Jessica McCormack's LinkedIn profile, I found a list of previous and current clients. I noticed that grantLOVE is listed, but Alexandra Grant's name was curiously absent. I thought this was odd since it is clear that the promotional video was for Alexandra Grant and not grantLOVE. 

 

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jessicamccormack/

Before I continue, I want to point out that it has not escaped my attention that Lowell Ryan Projects is also listed as a client and that the promotional video of Grant's solo show was at Lowell Ryan Projects. So it would be plausible that this work was done for them, and that is why Alexandra Grant is not listed as a client of SHS. But after investigating further, I've come to the conclusion that this is not the case. 

 

For one, the video truly was about Grant. You only have to watch it to see that this was promotion specifically for her. She was the primary focus of the video. 

 

Plus, it seems that Grant's personal website was revamped during the period between April 2019 and August 2019. 

 

In April 2019 her website looked like this...

 

https://web.archive.org/web/20190411084156/https://alexandragrant.com/

 

By August 2019 it looked like this...

 

https://web.archive.org/web/20190823203222/https://alexandragrant.com/

 

https://web.archive.org/web/20191105183903/https://alexandragrant.com/about/

https://web.archive.org/web/20191105024715/https://alexandragrant.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/CV-Alexandra-Grant.pdf

 

I think it is very probable that SHS revamped her personal website in 2019 and then revamped the grantLOVE website in 2020. The July 2019 CV, which states that grantLOVE Project is a non profit and that her art is part of the permanent collection at the Art Gallery of Ontario, will play a VERY important part in the PR after her and Reeves walk the carpet at the LACMA gala in November 2019.

So, between the promotional video at her solo show, her revamped personal website and all of the PR articles and events that I am about to present, I think it will become very clear that SHS was hired to help Alexandra Grant build a narrative to promote herself and her LOVE brand through digital marketing by leveraging Keanu Reeves' fan base.

 

Bear with me please as I take you through my findings. This one is very challenging to expose, as there are various components that come into play. I will try and take you through the steps that led to my discoveries.

 

The first part was in further exploring the See Hear Speak (SHS) website. The website is fairly sparse but somewhat interactive.

 

If you noticed in the earlier screen captures, there is a search field where you can type in key words of interest, right under "How can we help you?".  By typing in various aspects that a business may want to enhance, you get different results. 

 

This is the result I got when I typed in 'increase Instagram followers'.

 

This is the result I got when I typed 'increase brand awareness'

 

This is the result I got when I typed 'PR'

 

This is the result I got when I typed 'marketing'

 

 

When I read these, I get the sense that they offer a fully integrated digital marketing campaign and that they monitor, collect and analyze data to restructure the narrative or story when the need arises. They adapt the brand as they go. This is NOT a short term marketing campaign.   

 

In one of the yellow 'speak' screen grabs there is mention to "check out our news feed to get a sense of some of the recent stories we've helped bring to life for our clients". 

 

 

This would mean that any of the 'stories' I find there would be stories they are responsible for; that they would have arranged to help promote their client in the way that they requested. It is at this point that the 'story', the 'narrative', the 'branding' and 'marketing' really starts to take shape. This is where I realized without a doubt that Alexandra Grant was (and I suspect still is) one of their clients.

 

Given that See Hear Speak is an agency that is very much geared towards creating, developing and spreading brand awareness through social media, digital presence and always on campaigns, one can deduce that a big part of Alexandra Grant's branding campaign concerns would be in tying her name to the word LOVE, the myth of Antigone and the “Born to Love Not to Hate” quote that is repeated over and over again throughout all of her work; and that the name and image of Keanu Reeves in association with her would also play a significant part in marketing her brand.

 

On the SHS website, I found two thumbnails that would lead to articles about her Born To Love exhibit at Lowell Ryan Project, which occurred from June 1 to July 6, 2019.

 

One is a link that takes you to an LA Weekly article about the show, written by Shana Nys Dambrot (remember this name), which features works from Alexandra Grant's Antigone 3000 series. The other is a link to a Flaunt article about a conversation between Alexandra Grant and Roxanne Gay regarding the story of Antigone and it's relevance in today's climate. This conversation also took place at Lowell Ryan Projects, with Alexandra Grant's 'Born to Love' Antigone series on display.

 

Below is the LA Weekly article from one of the thumbnails.

https://www.laweekly.com/alexandra-grant-chooses-love-at-lowell-ryan-projects/

Clicking on Alexandra Grant's name takes you to another LA Weekly article about Alexandra Grant written by the same author. The author is also the art editor at LA Weekly. https://www.laweekly.com/meet-an-artist-monday-alexandra-grant-2/

 

This article is very important. It was published on May 27, 2019, just prior to the opening night of her show at Lowell Ryan Projects (June 1, 2019). It is clearly PR advertising for Alexandra Grant and the article is filled with links to other sites that are relevant to her.  This article will be used as a reference in future articles after the LACMA gala (November 2, 2019).

 

The LOVE House is mentioned and is a clickable link which takes you to a very outdated (2011) page of the California Community Foundation site where there is a write-up on the artist under the nonprofits section of the website. There are pictures of her earlier works, the LOVE House, a brief statement from the artist and bio. Although the LOVE House is mentioned, there is no mention of grantLOVE Project.

X Artists' Books is mentioned and is a clickable link which takes you the X Artists' Books website.

 

Lowell Ryan Projects is mentioned and is a clickable link which takes you to Alexandra Grant's website (not Lowell Ryan's website) where there is an entry for her solo show under the portfolios section.

 

At the end of the article, all of Alexandra Grant's social media handles are mentioned. 

So, from this article alone you can be redirected to 6 different websites that function as advertising for Alexandra Grant:

https://alexandragrant.com/

https://www.facebook.com/alexandragrantartist

https://www.instagram.com/alexandragrantstudio/

https://www.instagram.com/grantalexandra/

https://www.xartistsbooks.com/

https://www.calfund.org/nonprofits/featured-funds/fva/2011-gallery/alexandra-grant/

There is no mention of any of the grantLOVE pages (instagram, facebook, website) whatsoever in this article. Alexandra Grant is not promoting granLOVE at all here.

 

These types of links pointing back to her websites are called "backlinks". They are put there in order to increase traffic to your sites and they are one of the primary ways to increase your SEO (Search Engine Optimization) which increases the popularity of your site. Increasing the number of backlinks is a digital marketing strategy.

https://www.wpbeginner.com/glossary/backlinks/

The other thumbnail is for this article in Flaunt magazine advertising both the upcoming conversation with Roxane Gay and the solo show. This article will also be used as a reference in future articles. 

https://flaunt.com/content/alexandra-grant-roxane-gay

 

Afterwards, I went to look at See Hear Speak' s Instagram. There I found two posts regarding Alexandra Grant and her "Born to Love" solo show. One of these had multiple quotes from different articles regarding her Antigone based art. I can deduce by this that See Hear Speak organized these articles as well. After all, social media posts like these serve as both advertising for the client and the agency. They are showing the work that they helped bring to life for a client so that others, who may want to hire them, know what type of results they would get. This is dual-duty promotion; promotion for Grant and promotion for See Hear Speak.

 

First Instagram post:

 

 

Second Instagram Post:

 

 

At this point I realize there are more PR articles than what was posted in their news section on their website; so I went looking for these.

 

One of them was written by Eve Wood (the artist who did the illustrations for Grant's book "The Artist's Prison"). The article spoke extensively about Antigone, Born to Love, choosing love (that's a recurring theme), but not one mention of grantLOVE Project. There were two comments left by readers at the end of the article.

https://www.riotmaterial.com/alexandra-grant-born-to-love/

The other was for Curate LA. Again the topic is, of course around Antigone, the Born to Love phrase and choosing love.

https://medium.com/@curate.LA/remarks-on-love-alexandra-grants-born-to-love-b35b69cf99d3

It is at this point that I decided to go searching for any articles during this period, as well as events where both Grant and Reeves were in attendance. Believe it or not, below is an abbreviated list. Any articles that mentions grantLOVE Project are highlighted in pink. Any articles that are due to paparazzi sightings are highlighted in red.

 

05-09-2019 ^- Podcast: What Artists Listen To (podcast) featuring Alexandra Grant. Hosted by Pia Pack. https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/alexandra-grant/id1361443778?i=1000440110219

 

05-15-2019:  Event: Keanu Reeves Hand & Footprint Ceremony Chinese Theatre. Alexandra Grant in attendance sitting among his friends. https://www.dreamstime.com/kianu-reeves-image147740879

 

05-18-2019: Event: The Museum of Contemporary Art (MOCA) Benefit.

Alexandra Grant and Keanu Reeves arrive together at the benefit. Pictures and videos of them all over Social Media. It's clear by the YouTube video posted below that this is Alexandra Grant's event and that Reeves is her plus one. This is her carpet event and he is trying not to interfere in her momment. Only at her insistence does he oblige and come in for more pictures. The interaction is awkward to say the least.

Pictures taken during the event by Eric Mihn Swenson are immediately posted on his Instagram. He mentions Grant's upcoming solo show and he is the one that filmed the promotional video mentioned earlier. 

  https://www.instagram.com/p/Bxo5WCTl-Sm/

 

 

Jessica McCormack (co-founder of SHS) lists MOCA several times on her LinkeIn profile. She's worked for them as a Communications Specialist and did some project management for some of their events prior to founding SHS.

 

05-20-2019: Article: “The MOCA Benefit Brought Out Big Stars and Really Good Fashion”, by Merle Ginsberg. Large photo of Keanu and Alexandra arriving at the benefit prominently featured. https://www.lamag.com/lalifeandstyle/moca-gala-2019/

 

05-23-2019: Article: “Studio Visit: Alexandra Grant, Antigone and the Body Politic” by Gary Brewer. https://artandcakela.com/2019/05/23/studio-visit-alexandra-grant-antigone-and-the-body-politic/

 

05-28-2019^: Article: “Meet an Artist Monday: Alexandra Grant”, by Shana Nys Dambrot. This is the article with all the backlinks I mentioned earlier. https://www.laweekly.com/meet-an-artist-monday-alexandra-grant-2/

 

05-28-2019: Article:  “Keanu Reeves Steps out with Alexandra Grant for Dinner at Mastros” by Lesley Garcia. grantLOVE is not mentioned in the article but Keanu is pictured wearing a black grantLOVE hoodie. Therefore I also see this as advertising for grantLOVE and Alexandra Grant.   https://www.hollywoodpipeline.com/2019/05/28/keanu-reeves-steps-out-with-alexandra-grant-for-dinner-at-mastros/

 

 

The Hollywood Pipeline is strictly a digital gossip magazine that bases most of it's articles on paparazzi pictures of famous people out and about, and they have a very strong social media presence. They don't just post their articles on their website, they also have Instagram, Twitter and Facebook. All of these social media accounts will post about these articles and redirect them to the article on their website. Every single one of these platforms allow for public comments. When you are doing SM based PR, this type of medium is invaluable because it allows you to "keep your ears to the ground", evaluate and adapt your narrative using real time impressions from target audiences. It's GOLD!!

 

As such, I am including some of the social commentary here as it is relevant in establishing how public/fan perception towards Alexandra Grant shifts throughout this PR marketing/branding narrative. Here are some of the comments from the Instagram post https://www.instagram.com/p/ByAuzNOApiu/ 

05-30-2019: Article: “Datebook: Inspired by antiquity, Alexandra Grant tackles notions of Love”, by Carolina A. Miranda. https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/arts/miranda/la-et-cam-datebook-alexandra-grant-lowell-ryan-20190530-story.html

 

05-30-2019: Article: “A Conflation of Dueling Sentiments In Alexandra Grant’s Born to Love”, by Eve Wood. This is the same article I mentioned earlier. https://www.riotmaterial.com/alexandra-grant-born-to-love/

 

06-01-2019: Article: Born to love, by Alexandra Grant at Lowell Ryan Porjects. RSVP is through See Hear Speak Agency. https://dola.com/events/2019/6/1/born-to-love-by-alexandra-grant

  

06-01-2019: Event: Lowell Ryan Project opening of Born to Love by Alexandra Grant. Keanu Reeves in attendance. Lots of photos of this event on social media.

 

06-04-2019: Article: Galia Linn and Alexandra Grant: Stories in Clay and Paint

Transcript of podcast hosted by Edward Goldman. Goldman was present at the opening dinner for Born To Love and uses the pictures he took that night. https://www.kcrw.com/culture/shows/art-talk/galia-linn-and-alexandra-grant-stories-in-clay-and-paint

 

06-06-2019: Event: Yves St-Laurent Fashion Show. Alexandra Grant accompanies Keanu Reeves at his event as he was the model for their Winter Campaign 2019. Multiple pictures and videos of them all over social media.

 

06-07-2019: Article: “Saint Laurent Brought Sex (and Keanu Reeves) to the Beach in Malibu”, by Merle Ginsberg. https://www.lamag.com/lalifeandstyle/saint-laurent-malibu-keanu-reeves/

 

06-07-2019: Article: “Keanu Reeves in “Cyberpunk 2077” after bringing Alexandra Grant to Yves St-Laurent Show”, by Lesley Garcia. https://www.hollywoodpipeline.com/2019/06/10/keanu-reeves-in-cyberpunk-2077-after-bringing-alexandra-grant-to-saint-laurent-show/ 

More Instagram comments... https://www.instagram.com/p/ByiV8jGAnNM/

 

 

06-11-2019^: Article: "Remarks on Love: Alexandra Grant’s Born To Love", by Essence Harden. https://curate.la/event.php?id=16772

 

06-22-2019: Article: “Keanu Reeves and Alexandra Grant Look Dashing grabbing Dinner at Madeo” by Lesley Garcia.

https://www.hollywoodpipeline.com/2019/06/22/keanu-reeves-and-alexandra-grant-look-dashing-grabbing-dinner-at-madeo-restaurant/

 

06-25-2019: Article: "Recommendation: Alexandra Grant, Born to Love", by Andy Brumer"

https://www.visualartsource.com/index.php?page=editorial&aID=5282-

 

06-28-2019: Article: Roxane Gay and Alexandra Grant | "I was born to love, not to hate" by Hannah Jackson. Same article which is on SHS's website.

https://flaunt.com/content/alexandra-grant-roxane-gay

   

07-02-2019: Article: "10 Things To Do in July", by Abigail stone

https://www.californiahomedesign.com/trending/2019/07/02/8-things-to-do-in-july/

   

07-02-2019: Article: Alexandra Grant Chooses Love at Lowell Ryan Projects, by Shana Nys Dambrot. Same article that is on SHS's website. http://www.laweekly.com/alexandra-grant-chooses-love-at-lowell-ryan-projects/

  

07-08-2019: Article: “Love Is A Battlefield: Artist Alexandra Grant’s “Antigone 3000”, by Abigail Stone. Promotional article advertsing the sale of alexandra Grant's artworks since the solo show closed on July 6, 2019. This article mentions grantLOVE, X Artists' Books, the conversation with Roxane Gay and Grant officiating a wedding. https://www.californiahomedesign.com/trending/2019/07/08/love-is-a-battlefield-artist-alexandra-grants-antigone-3000/

 

09-11-2019: Article:  “Alexandra Grant On activating the Power of Language”, by Marc “Frosty” McNeil. https://thecreativeindependent.com/people/artist-alexandra-grant-on-activating-the-power-of-language/

 

09-19-2019: Article: "Keanu Reeves Rides New Motorcycle After Night Out with Alexandra Grant", by Lesley Garcia. https://www.hollywoodpipeline.com/2019/09/19/keanu-reeves-rides-new-motorcycle-after-night-out-with-alexandra-grant/

 

 

More Instagram comments...  https://www.instagram.com/p/B2m6l0ng5lC/

 

 

It is at this point that you start to see the narrative unravel. People are starting to see through the charade. They see that she is simply using Keanu's fan base to make a name for herself as an artist and to line her pockets. Thus far, it is mostly through their publishing company, X Artists' Books, which was founded in 2017. 

What one of the commenters said about Alexandra Grant marketing the books they publish by setting up "launches" where he shows up and signs books that he had no part in making, is true. The sales at these events are not because of interest in the books, but because Keanu is present and they all want an autograph and possibly a selfie. In order to get that, they must buy a book. The two collaborative books that they worked on together were published by Steidl and are not part of the X Artists' Books collection.They were made and published before they started their company. Because of this, they buy her book and they both sign it. It's absurd and I have no idea why he would consent to this. It's embarrassing.

 

 

More than that though, they are starting to see that the public image and brand that she is presenting is far from real. Her behavior contradicts it and they find this offensive.

 

10-03-2019: Article: "New Real Housewife of Beverly Hills Sutton Stracke Opens a WeHo Boutique", by Merle Ginsberg. Alexandra Grant attended this event. This article is actually the first article to mention that Alexandra Grant and Keanu Reeves are dating. It did not catch on. https://www.lamag.com/lalifeandstyle/sutton-stracke-real-housewives-of-beverly-hills/

 

10-14-2019: Article: "Keanu Reeves and Alexandra Grant at Giorgio Baldi in Santa Monica", by Lesley Garcia. https://www.hollywoodpipeline.com/2019/10/14/keanu-reeves-and-alexandra-have-dinner-in-santa-monica-after-john-wick-hex-release/

 

 

10-21-2019: Article: "Keanu Reeves Puts on a Cozy Display with Best Friend and Business Partner Alexandra Grant as the pair enjoy dinner in LA." https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-7595719/Keanu-Reeves-puts-cosy-display-best-friend-business-partner-Alexandra-Grant.html

 

Even though Grant and Reeves were clearly spending a lot of time together, the idea that they were more than good friends and business partners never really caught on. Even when Merle Ginsberg flat out said she was his girlfriend in her article, nobody paid it any attention. The notion was dismissed. 

11-02-2019: Event: LACMA - Alexandra Grant and Keanu Reeves walk the carpet together at the event. Grant is wearing a Grecian style dress which fits with her Antigone Greek myth themed art. 

 

11-02-2019: Article: Daily Mail posts a picture of them in their article that came out the same day as the event. The caption under the picture describes her as a close friend. https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-7643821/Salma-Hayek-Suki-Waterhouse-Camila-Morrone-set-pulses-racing-2019-LACMA-Art-FIlm-Gala.html 

 

It would take another two days before the first articles declaring them a couple would come out. Once that happened, there was then a onslaught of articles coming out about them. A slew of articles declaring Alexandra Grant to be the love of his life and lauding her praises. It is at this point in time that the philanthropic side of her brand starts to get promoted as well. She is about to start heavily pushing HERSELF as a philanthropist by using her unregistered philanthropic enterprise - grantLOVE Project -  and by using PR articles that directly link to the July 2019 CV on her website which fraudulently lists grantLOVE Project as a non-profit. 

 

GRANTLOVE PROJECT IS NOT A NON-PROFIT. 

 

Pay close attention now. This is where the digital PR starts to really take effect. The articles and pap sightings mentioned earlier will come into play. Remember the SEO backlinks and how they work to boost your rating and increase traffic to your sites? Watch...

11-04-2019 (4:00pm): Article: Life & Style Magazine - "Keanu and Longtime Friend Alexandra Grant are Dating: Their 'Friendship Turned Romantic'". This is the FIRST article to come out declaring them a couple. https://www.lifeandstylemag.com/posts/does-keanu-reeves-have-a-girlfriend-actor-dating-alexandra-grant/

 

The link takes you to a specific page on her website where her CV is located. At the time this article came out, that CV was the July 2019 version, the one with the numerous lies on it. This is the CV that has been discussed over and over again on social media and on this blog (See Oh, What a Tangled Web We Weave & Alexandragrant.com - CAUTION). It is the one where she refers to grantLOVE Project as a nonprofit.

 

11-04-2019 (9:17pm): Article: "5 Facts About Keanu Reeves' New Lady Love, Artist Alexandra Grant". This article references the Life & Style magazine above and five facts about her. https://www.newsweek.com/5-facts-about-keanu-reeves-new-lady-love-artist-alexandra-grant-1469722

The facts mentioned are:

- She is a Los Angeles-based artist

- She and Reeves have published two books together.

- She has a philosophy around love.

- She created a documentary film called Taking Lena Home.

- She is a philanthropist. (grantLove Project is mentioned)

What is interesting to me about her philosophy quote is that it is not in either of the two articles I mentioned earlier. Where did Newsweek get this quote? Did they attend the conversation back in July and hear it firsthand? If so, there is no mention of it. Perhaps it was given to them to quote? Hm...

 

Only a few articles came out on November 4, 2019. Most of them would come out on or after November 5, 2019. The following are a small sample of the articles that came out promoting/introducing Alexandra Grant to the world as Keanu Reeves' girlfriend.

 

11-05-2019: Article: "7 Things You Need to Know About Keanu Reeves' New Girlfriend Alexandra Grant" https://www.narcity.com/keanu-reeves-girlfriend-alexandra-grant-is-actually-an-incredibly-successful-woman

In this one article, you will find 8 backlinks that help promote her and increase her SEO.

Instagram: grantalexandra, alexandragrantstudio, xartistsbooks, grantlove.

website: www.alexandragrant.com (links to about page and CV page - 2 separate links), www.xartistsbooks.com, www.grantlove.com, IMDB for Taking Lean Home.

 

 

 

 

11-05-2019: Article: Who Is Alexandra Grant, The Artist Seen Holding Keanu Reeves' Hand In Public? https://www.huffingtonpost.ca/entry/alexandra-grant-keanu-reeves-dating_ca_5dc1933ae4b03d0aad00af14

This article is another wealth of backlinks. There are direct links to her personal website, grantLOVE Project's website (about page) and X Artists' Books website. There are also direct links to her personal Instagram, her studio Instagram and X Artists' Books' Instagram. 

There is mention of her art based on the myth of Antigone, along with an Instagram post with one of her Antigone 3000 series neons with the quote " I was born to love, not to hate".

There are links to two of the articles that were part of her "Born To Love" solo show at Lowell Ryan Projects - "LA Weekly: Meet An artist Monday" (6 backlinks) and the "Love is Battlefield" (3 backlinks). There is also a link to The Creative Independent article which I listed earlier, as well as two more older articles that feature her and Reeves during the promotion for X Artists' Books - https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/16/t-magazine/keanu-reeves-art-book-publishing.html & https://www.lamag.com/culturefiles/keanu-reeves-x-artists-books/

There is also a YouTube video of Reeves and Grant reading their collaborative book "Shadows". The writer describes the reading as flirtatious. The grand total for backlinks for this one article is 11.

Fact: The "flirtatious banter" the writer is referring to is from their collaborative book "Shadows". They are taking turns reading the short poetry that Reeves wrote for the book. It is not a conversation. This gives a completely false representation of what is actually happening in the video.

 

11-05-2019: Article: "Who Is Keanu Reeves’ Girlfriend, Alexandra Grant?" https://www.forbes.com/sites/nadjasayej/2019/11/05/who-is-keanu-reeves-girlfriend-alexandra-grant/?sh=65ca6fa02c1f

More backlinks to; Grant's website 'About' page (CV location), X Artists' Books, grantLOVE Project, Grant's studio Instagram. Links to an ongoing exhibition she was part of at the time (Code Word Safe) and to an article about her from 2018 (Voyagela) which has numerous backlinks for her.

 

11-06-2019: Article: "Keanu Reeves is Dating Someone His Own Age. Why is That so Shocking?" https://www.vox.com/2019/11/6/20949642/who-is-keanu-reeves-new-girlfriend-alexandra-grant 

 

Please note that they are referring to grantLOVE Project as a CHARITY because it is listed as a NON-PROFIT in the July 2019 CV.

 

11-05-2019: Article: "Keanu Reeves and Alexandra Grant Engaged? A timeline of their relationship" by Lesley Garcia. https://www.hollywoodpipeline.com/2019/11/05/keanu-reeves-and-alexandra-grant-engaged-we-got-receipts/

And isn't that the truth, as this is the 6th Hollywood Pipeline article about them written by the same author - Lesley Garcia. 

 

 

 

 

They recap every single article that they've written about them since spring (Dinner at Maestro's on Memorial Day, Yves St-Laurent Fashion show, Dinner at Madeo, Dinner at E. Baldi, Dinner at Giorgio Baldi) as well as one interesting event which wasn't covered and that I hadn't mentioned - Alexandra Grant accompanied Keanu Reeves to Tokyo when he was promoting John Wick and Cyberpunk, although they only mention Cyberpunk.

 

This did not get media coverage in America but it did get attention in Tokyo.

 

https://soranews24.com/tag/alexandra-grant/

 

And this is something I have not talked about yet which is a BIG part of marketing through social media - leaking photographs through Instagram or other platform to create 'buzz' and monitoring the public's comments. 

 

Reeves was in Japan for the John Wick 3 premiere as well as his Cybepunk promotional duties. They visited the Teshima Art Museum. The visit to the museum is important because that's when the social media games started via Instagram. Alexandra Grant was posting numerous pictures on Instagram while she was visiting and one of those pictures was this one...

 

It's a picture of an arch. Keanu Reeves has a motorcycle company called ARCH and die hard Keanu fans know this - this is the target audience - HIS FANS. As you can see, Keanu is in the background of the photo taking a picture of the arch. Within 24 hours this picture was deleted, but it was enough time to start a flurry of comments on that post and about that post on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, etc. This is how rumors get started on social media. This is how you get people really talking, speculating about the nature of your relationship with Mr. Reeves - without ever uttering a word about it. To this day, neither party has confirmed there is a romantic relationship. It's all assumed at this point. 

 

Some comments were positive, some were negative. Most of the negative comments at the time were regarding the fact that it was clear that she was abusing his trust, not respecting his privacy and that this was a juvenile game that she was playing. These are just a handful of the comments from Instagram and a public forum called Lipstick Alley...

 

 

 

I do find it interesting that The Hollywood Pipeline is the only source for this information in America. Like I mentioned before, very few knew about this visit to Japan. The information feels planted to me. Previous comments on the Hollywood Pipeline Instagram indicate that the public is wisening up to the fact that they seem to be covering public outings by the 'couple' and many believe it is because Alexandra Grant is notifying them of their whereabouts. Perhaps she notified them of the Japan trip so that it would be mentioned?  

 

 

The comments of the last poster regarding wanting Mr. Reeves to find true love after all the loss and pain he's experienced is a common wish among his fans. You don't have to look very hard to find numerous voices expressing these sentiments. This has been echoed on social media prior to this romantic link to Alexandra Grant and is ongoing to this day despite it. In other words, there are many that just don't believe she is the one, despite what the PR narrative is telling them. And this narrative is about to kick into full gear.

 

The media is about to claim that this is the first time he has ever brought a woman on the red carpet (not true) and they will exclaim that this is evidence that this relationship with Alexandra Grant must be very serious. This will be followed by rumors of moving in together, engagement, marriage and wanting to start a family. No evidence of this will be provided and no attempts from either party to confirm or deny these rumors. (Much of this will be discussed in a future post - The PR Show - Part 2.)

 

The refusal to clarify any of this by Alexandra Grant is interesting, especially given her recent statement in this German magazine.

 

https://www.monopol-magazin.de/interview-alexandra-grant-koennte-avantgarde-nicht-bedeuten-eine-frau-zu-sein?slide=1

 

 

The Google translated version...

 

 

 The thing that stands out to me is the interviewer's question. It shows that the topic of LACMA was discussed prior to the interview, as the interviewer knew beforehand that the gala was her work related event, and that Mr. Reeves was her plus one. She also further elaborates that the media got that wrong, meaning that they thought she was his date and not the other way around. Given this revelation, all the fanfare about him finally being openly public about a romantic interest by inviting a woman to walk the carpet with him is complete media fabrication. 

If so, why did she let that stand?

If you feel so strongly about how women's biographies are being told, and you think women should stand up for themselves and not let others hijack their biography (which I believe is what is implied here), if this is important to you, then why would you let the media hijack yours?

 

Unless... what they were presenting worked to your advantage and, perhaps, was even planned? Hm...

 

 

After all, LACMA was her event, and she had attended it before in 2016, wearing the same dress she wore at the MOCA event in May 2019 (which was also her event).

 

The Press release for LACMA 2019 came out July 10, 2019 announcing the date of the annual event.

 

https://www.lacma.org/sites/default/files/press/2019-07/2019%20Art%20%2B%20Film%20Gala%20Announcement%20_%20Press%20Release_FINAL.pdf

 

Tickets and tables were available for purchase at that time. If he was her guest, then she likely would have purchased his ticket as well as her own. The LACMA gala is not just a dinner that serves to honor certain artists (2 honorees are selected every year) but is also a fundraising event. 

 

 

Which means she knew that she would be attending it with Reeves that year and I believe she planned many of the events (branding and PR articles, website update, July 2019 CV, Japan leaks, paparazzi sightings) leading up to it in preparation, so that the narrative she would try and present, post their appearance together, would be believable. After all, this would be the event that would launch her name and brand worldwide. 

 

 

I wonder who paid for the tickets? 

 

Alexandra Grant or grantLOVE?

 

 

I could see her rationalizing that purchasing tickets to an art gala fundraising events would qualify as an appropriate use of grantLOVE funds. After all, the proceeds do benefit the arts (and she has attended a number of them over the years - food for thought). But they could also be seen as acts of self-dealing since, as an artist herself, she would benefit personally by attending these since they are fantastic opportunities for networking and marketing yourself. 

 

 

grantLOVE funds and assets must be used appropriately, that is, to pursue grantLOVE's mission first and foremost. As the manager of grantLOVE Project, Alexandra Grant has an obligation to ALWAYS keep this in mind and never use these funds or assets for personal gain. This is part of her Duty of Loyalty and Care as the manager (See Charitable Trust Doctrine). 

 

 

So when I remind myself  that See Hear Speak lists grantLOVE as a client, with no mention of Alexandra Grant, I think it must be because grantLOVE is the paying client for ALL of the services provided to grantLOVE and Alexandra Grant. At least, that is the impression this gives me. 

Although you could rationalize that by promoting Alexandra Grant, you would then in turn be promoting grantLOVE by association, again, that would be an ENTIRELY INAPPROPRIATE RATIONALE (See Charitable Trust Doctrine).

When I look at all the PR that has been done to promote her personally vs promoting grantLOVE, there is no doubt in my mind that this personally benefited Alexandra Grant far more than it did grantLOVE. 

 

 

If grantLOVE funds were used to pay for any of her personal PR and branding, this would be the most obscene use of grantLOVE funds thus far.

 

I would not be surprised if that were the case. I get the impression that she views grantLOVE's funds and assets as available for her to use as she sees fit. She has no basic understanding of the rules regarding these charitable assets and funds and that these are held in trust by her to be used ONLY FOR THE EXPRESSED PURPOSE DECLARED WHEN THEY WERE RAISED OR MADE FOR.

 

For example, this past April, Alexandra Grant donated a series of 4 grantLOVE x Cachetejack prints to the Venice Family Clinic's Annual Art Walk + Auction. There are two problems with this. 

 

Firstly, the Venice Family Clinic is not the type of organization that can benefit from grantLOVE assets or funds. They are not an art related organization, they are a medical clinic. Just because they are raising funds through an art auction that does not mean that they qualify. The funds raised will not benefit the art in any way and that is what grantLOVE donations should be based on. Their mission statement says it's for artist projects, arts non-profits and art education. If Alexandra Grant wanted to donate an art work for that auction she should have chosen something from her private practice, one of her many Born To Love Not To Hate pieces. That would have been appropriate. 

Secondly, to take the inappropriateness further, all of the grantLOVE x Cachetejack prints were created to benefit Savvy Contemporary in Berlin. She is diverting these assets from their advertised beneficiaries. The worst part about this is that she even admitted as much during the Virtual Art Talk organized for the Venice Art Auction. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ez_OqiwEM6I

 

 

This art talk was moderated by Shana Nys Dambrot, art editor for LA Weekly and the same person who wrote those two PR articles I mentioned earlier, one of which was listed on See Hear Speak's website. She is also the person who spoke at Alexandra Grant's 'Born To Love' solo show at Lowell Ryan Projects.

In fact, she's also written two articles for X Artists' Books. 

One promoting the publishing house as a whole (https://www.riotmaterial.com/x-artists-books-literatures-of-displacement-and-permission/). And the other promoting one of the authors which included a backlink to the X Artists' Books website (https://www.laweekly.com/meet-an-artist-monday-asher-hartman/).

In other words, Shana Nys Dambrot has strong history of promoting Alexandra Grant's various enterprises. It is not a coincidence that she was the moderator for this talk which included Alexandra Grant.

 

Then there is the fact that the Venice Family clinic is also one of See Hear Speak's clients. This is not a coincidence either.

So, if you think that Alexandra Grant is no longer using See Hear Speak for her PR... guess again.

Shana Nys Dambrot gave glowing praise to Alexandra Grant and was positively gushing when she spoke about her. It was over the top and  uncomfortable to watch. She did not speak this way about the other artist.

Alexandra Grant only posted about the Virtual Art Talk on her personal Instagram. There are no posts about the Venice Art Walk on the grantLOVE Instagram, despite the fact that their assets were donated for the auction. In other words, she used this event to promote herself only. This event and those assets served to promote Alexandra Grant the artist, and Alexandra Grant the philanthropist. Promoting grantLOVE wasn't even an afterthought. That's why there are no posts about it on the grantLOVE Instagram account.

https://www.instagram.com/p/COO2mYsl0mg/

Also, during the talk, she spoke about her love philosophy and the three pillars of love, which also has been mentioned in previous PR articles.  

"Around 11 years ago I decided to really just focus on creating an ongoing project and body of work around the word love. And love for me has three parts. Self-care, self-love, it’s fundamental to be able to care for other people. The second thing is loving the people that we know who are in our families and direct communities. The third, and I think the most important, is how do we love people who we don’t know and who are different than us. And so that… those three pillars are the basis of the grantLOVE Project."

 

What is interesting to me is the last sentence. She is essentially saying that grantLOVE Project is an extension of her ongoing love themed solo art based on Antigone, the phrase 'Born To Love Not To Hate, the LOVE symbol which now represents grantLOVE Project and it's fundraising assets. grantLOVE was created to represent "grant's LOVE" philosophy. Therefore it is also meant to represent herself.  This implies that grantLOVE was created to further promote her solo practice and her brand. In fact, she behaves as though both her and grantLOVE are the same entity.

 

In other words, at its root, grantLOVE Project is nothing more than a vehicle for self-promotion. 

 

And, if you think that this brand, narrative, image, (myth) that she's created for herself is real... guess again. Even Alexandra Grant let it slip that it isn't real. Or at least that is my interpretation of something she said in this PR article which I mentioned earlier in this post. I believe it's Alexandra Grant calling herself out  on her hypocrisy and the fake 'myth' she created for herself.

 

https://thecreativeindependent.com/people/artist-alexandra-grant-on-activating-the-power-of-language/

 

 

The sufi myth she mentioned to the curators implies having a constancy in character regardless of status. She applied this myth to herself and her practice by implying that both would always be working in parallel, that her work would always be a reflection of her true self and that that this would remain that way, through high and lows in her career and life; whether she was in the spotlight or unknown. 

 

When she says that she "convinced these lovely curators", it hints at a deception. The use of the word 'convince' leaves an impression that this 'myth' was her telling them what she thought they would like to hear, but that it wasn't necessarily truth.

The sentence "I just sort of intuitively knew that this position would be important" also indicates that she told them what she thought they would want to hear and would appeal to them (whether truthful or not).

She then goes on to talk about the stresses of success, when all eyes are on you, and not knowing how to navigate that. This implies to me that what stresses her is the constancy of being under scrutiny. This, of course would be especially stressful if the image that you projected, about the essence of who you are, was pure fabrication, and you felt forced to keep up the charade.

 

She continues on to talk about her "fake sufi myth", this fabricated image she created for herself, being very central to her life now and telling herself; "Alexandra, you told these people, and they believed you, that your practice had to be the same when everyone was looking and no one was looking." It was this sentence in particular that struck me as odd. If the myth you told about yourself was true, you wouldn't have to remind yourself to live up to it. 

 

At this point, she is calling herself out on her hypocrisy. This implies that she has to constantly remind herself that she has to keep up the ruse otherwise people will figure out that it is false. I get the impression that this is a burden for her, does not come naturally at all, and is a great source of stress. 

 

The very last sentence is the most telling sentence of all. "It was as though my own myth helped me understand how to be in the creative world". My interpretation of this is that Alexandra Grant sees this myth as the key to success, and that she must maintain it at all cost. In other words...

 

In order to make it, 

you have to keep faking it

 

 

To be continued...