Mr. Jonathan Cheban This is Me

Education

 Web References

1. 1. Dan's Papers - Read Dan's Papers

   www.danspapers.com/paper/whisp - [Cached]

   Published on: 5/27/2006   Last Visited: 5/27/2006

   Publicist: Jonathan Cheban, Owner of Command PR
   
   Atmosphere: Saint Tropez

2. 2. Buzz You - Talking About Conversational Currency

   www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/sto - [Cached]

   Published on: 9/20/2004   Last Visited: 9/20/2004

   * Jonathan Cheban: CEO of Command PR and creative genius behind the design and launch of the hottest celebrity T-shirt line, Clarendon, as seen on the likes of the Hilton sisters, Nicole Ritchie, and Jessica Simpson.

3. 3. Punked!

   www.thenyobserver.com/pages/ob - [Cached]

   Published on: 3/29/2004   Last Visited: 11/22/2004

   "It's really weird, because I do have a lot of friends who are famous, but I always knew them way before," said Jonathan Cheban on a recent evening at Nobu.
   ...
   At the front rows of Fashion Week, in banquettes at Butter and even as an escort on the red carpet, Mr. Cheban is often seen with the likes of Scarlett Johansson, the Olsen twins, Kelly Osbourne, the Hilton sisters and Nicole Ritchie.
   ...
   Mr. Cheban proudly described how he and Paris share a birthday, and when the pair turned 28 and 20, respectively, their party at Eugene was sponsored by Playboy. "I still remember how, on the invite, my name was first and Paris was second. It was ‘WITH Paris Hilton,'" he said, poking the air with his chopsticks for emphasis.
   ...
   Who is Jonathan Cheban? He's not famous, he's not a celebrity assistant, and he's not anyone's lover. Mr. Cheban is one of those Zelig-like creatures, a friend of the famous, who's somehow managed to break into the most celebrated echelon of our social caste system. While he's not making any headlines himself, he gets to reap plenty of the benefits of fame.
   
   But who would even know how to go about befriending a celebrity? It's all about the approach. "He's not star-struck; he's not affected," said Lizzie Grubman, the accident-prone publicist who spent the summer handling publicity for the Hamptons hangout Star Room with Mr. Cheban, has known him for 10 years and counts him among her best friends.
   ...
   "When Jonathan has his eye on something, he gets it, whether that's a celebrity friend or a job," said Mr. Spitz, who reportedly threw Mr. Cheban and others out of their Network PR office and changed the locks during their split back in 2001.
   ...
   "When Jonathan has his eye on something, he gets it, whether that's a celebrity friend or a job," said Mr. Spitz, who reportedly threw Mr. Cheban and others out of their Network PR office and changed the locks during their split back in 2001.
   ...
   "I think Jonathan has an eye for people who can do something for him-which everyone does who's in P.R. and is successful at it. Maybe he studies developing talent or something …. "
   
   Mr. Cheban leaned down to check his Sidekick, which was constantly flickering on and off. "It's the best thing ever made," he gushed.
   ...
   The waiter interrupted, and Mr. Cheban launched into an ordering campaign that put Meg Ryan in When Harry Met Sally to shame.
   ...
   They do it for me every time," Mr. Cheban said firmly.
   
   "My palate is very sensitive with food," he explained when the waiter left.
   
   He likes being in control. He negotiates the streets of New York in his black 2004 Mercedes CLK because he can't bear to wait for cabs. And he has a problem with authority figures-something he struggled with during the years before he became his own boss. "It was really hard to take orders. Sometimes I knew I was better than the people I was working for."
   
   Jersey Boy
   
   These days, Mr. Cheban does have a day job: He's the driving force behind the celebrity T-shirt line Clarendon and the founder of CommandPR, which has overseen high-profile events like P. Diddy's white parties, Janet Jackson's album-release party and J. Lo's pre-party for the MTV Video Music Awards, and represents top clients like Evian, Polaroid, Radu and even Lean Cuisine. "Everybody else has their work separate, but my life and work are combined. That's why you'll never see me falling on the floor drunk," said Mr. Cheban.
   ...
   "When I saw that episode, I was like, ‘We just had a 20-minute ad!'" said Mr. Cheban.
   ...
   Mr. Cheban's businesses might now ensure his status on the celebrity social circuit, but he planted those roots a long time ago, when he was, well, just another kid from the 'burbs. Once upon a time, Mr. Cheban did wait in line at places like Limelight and Club USA. It was the late 80's, and the Fort Lee High School student was the only child of a real-estate agent (his mother) and a diamond dealer (his father). Even while earning a communications degree from Hofstra, he was coming into the city every night to haunt "It" places like Café Tabac and Casa LaFemme. But he doesn't say much about it, as if his life's narrative didn't truly begin until he'd put down his first and last month's rent in Manhattan.
   
   "New York clubs and restaurants were just concentrated with models and beautiful people," said Mr. Cheban, referring to what it was like as a Jersey teen coming into the city.
   ...
   After a year of not getting screamed at by Ms. Siegal, Mr. Cheban called socialite publicist Samantha Phipps at Paul Wilmot, and the two of them teamed up with another publicist, Jake Spitz, to form Network PR.
   ...
   The group fractured in 2001 because Mr. Cheban and Mr. Spitz weren't "on the same page"-a split that played out in the city's gossip pages.
   ...
   "I didn't like the way he was fighting with people and screaming at them on the phone," Mr. Cheban explained, "because we had these big, big clients, and my reputation was so rock solid …. "
   
   In the end, Mr. Spitz bought out Mr. Cheban's and Ms. Phipps' stake in the company, and Ms. Phipps moved to Los Angeles.
   ...
   As Mr. Cheban was tucking into a ball of vanilla ice cream to close out the meal, Nicole Ritchie called.
   ...
   "She lives in the area," Mr. Cheban explained. "This is like her local diner." After chatting a few moments, he walked back out. "That's going to be written up tomorrow," he sighed.
   ...
   "She needs to grow her hair out," Mr. Cheban observed. "I've known her forever.
   ...
   Mr. Cheban put his arm protectively around Nicole.
   ...
   Mr. Cheban doesn't mind when he has to play bouncer for his chums. "I protect my friends when I'm out with them, whether we're at fashion shows, clubs or just walking outside. I'll block photographers' shots and I'll piss the paparazzi off," he said.
   ...
   Those moments serve as reality checks for Mr. Cheban.
   ...
   "They just hang out with people who can do something for them, and Jonathan makes them feel special and important.
   ...
   Mr. Cheban said. "Actually, it totally didn't," he confessed minutes later. "I just didn't want to make him feel bad."
   
   At around 2:30, Mr. Cheban called it a night, the streets nearly vacant as his Mercedes purred along. When he got home, Mr. Cheban was going to TiVo a reality show (Cold Turkey, about people trying to quit smoking)-something he does every night until at least 3 in the morning.
   
   At a stop light, he confessed that he finds going out to be a "pain in the butt."