Publicist Max Markson knows better than most that showbiz is all about timing.
So we noted with interest his bold declaration last Thursday that walking cautionary tale Andrew O’Keefe not only could – but would – resurrect his shattered career and get himself ‘back in the limelight’.
And lo and behold, the prescient agent’s words came true the next day when O’Keefe indeed found himself back in the limelight – though perhaps not in the way Markson had expected, with Inside Mail’s colleague Stephen Gibbs revealing the one-time game show host had been arrested, yet again, for drug driving.
Ever-positive Markson still believes he can rehabilitate the disgraced former Weekend Sunrise presenter, who has a string of convictions for domestic violence and drug-related offences, and spends more time in court than Judge Judy – in between rub downs at backstreet massage parlours.
It seems a stretch to us, but the eternal optimist is undeterred.
‘I still sincerely believe Andrew will bounce back. He will make a come back and he has a great future ahead of him,’ Markson tells us.
And while he doesn’t have AOK on the books (yet!) the original super agent said he was more than happy to weave his personal brand of magic on the one-time star’s shattered reputation.
‘Of course I’m happy to work with him … I think there’s a lot of potential there and, if he wanted me to help him, I would.’
Deal or no deal? Andrew O’Keefe investigates the services on offer at Miss Massage in Bondi (left), and at the Logie Awards with Sam Armytage before his career went off the rails (right)
Publicity supremo Max Markson (pictured) boldly declared former Deal or No Deal host Andrew O’Keefe’s career is not over yet
Sign him up, AOK.
After all, when it comes to reputation rescues, the irrepressible spruiker is without doubt one of the best in the business.
Just take a look at his amazing results when convicted drug mule, former call girl and serial revisionist Cassie Sainsbury decided to flog a book about the real story behind her ill-fated 5.8kg cocaine-smuggling run in the Colombian capital of Bogota…
Which, perhaps unsurprisingly, was different from all the other real stories she’d sold to Nine’s 60 Minutes and Seven’s Spotlight programs since being banged up in the notorious El Buen Pastor women’s prison in April 2017.
Markson helped tee up sympathetic interviews with news shows across all the free-to-air networks, as well as spots on breakfast staples Sunrise and Today, along with The Project.
Even the ABC and Sky News got in on the act.
Not one of them quizzed Sainsbury about her ever-evolving narrative, changing cast of characters and self-serving claims of victimhood – though there were plenty of plugs for her books and oversized graphics showcasing its cover.
Andrew O’Keefe famously melted down live on air on Weekend Sunrise in 2017
Proceeds of crime and truth be damned – there are ratings to win!
Besides, if you can’t trust a convicted drug mule to tell you the truth on the seventh attempt, who can you trust in this crazy, mixed-up world? If Sainsbury says she’s the real victim, then she’s the real victim.
Now, Markson doesn’t make up the stories, he just sells them – and he’s proven he’s quite the salesman.
If anyone can turn O’Keefe’s tragic trajectory around, it’s him.
Read the full edition of Inside Mail tomorrow, only for Mail+ subscribers
