Jonathan Cheban, celebrity publicist and Kim Kardashian’s BFF recently entered Celebrity Big Brother Reality Show in England along with 15 other cast members. Cheban stays busy with several entrepreneurial ventures including Suishi MiKasa and Sushi Couture restaurants in both New York and Miami, a franchise, Burger Bandit, a jewelry line – RichRocks, a clothing line – Kritik, a celebrity gossip website TheDishh.com, and more.
He also developed an HD mirror and the Glam Screen. Those are all side interests though as his main profession, beyond being Kim Kardashian’s best friend for many years is as a publicist.
It’s not going to be his first experience in reality TV, but then it won’t be for several of the other cast members either. The 16 announced members include Cheban, John Partridge, Danniella Westbrook, Emma Willis (Hostessing the show again), Gemma Collins, Kristina Rihanoff, Darren Day, David Gest, Angie Bowie, Stephanie Davis, Nancy Dell’Olio, Winston McKenzie, Megan McKenna, Scotty T, Tiffany Pollard, Jeremy McConnell, Christopher Maloney.
Cheban has often been a guest on the wildly popular Keeping Up With the Kardashians, and even had a season where he and his then PR firm partner, Simon Huck, did a reality show about their PR life and work – The Spin Crowd. The Spin Crowd was produced by Kim K. and as Everything-PR reported in the past, Cheban wanted to show the world what life was like in his media-soaked world.
He said, “I’ve seen shows about funeral homes, bounty hunters, hospitals, cops, and fishermen, and they’ve all been given the opportunity to give insight on their jobs and the reality of their careers. Why not tell the story of what people care most about—the magazines, websites, and press they surround themselves with every day.”
Kim Kardashian is friendly with a number of publicists – as media reported, she spent New Years’ eve with Tracy Nguyen, a publicist with Industry Public Relations in LA.
Back in the late 1990s, Cheban started work in a job for Peggy Siegel, celebrity publicist. After learning the trade and building experience and contacts, he formed his company in 2001, CommandPR along with fellow publicist Huck. The firm expanded and included offices in New York City, Miami, and Los Angeles. But early in 2013 Huck and Cheban parted ways with Cheban selling his interest in CommandPR to Huck. Cheban continues as a consultant and the two former partners maintain a reasonable friendship.
While their series was on, Cheban talked about the benefits of working out of Los Angeles, with LA-confidential saying, “It’s a lot easier when we get hired for things here that involve celebrities,” he says. “All the celebs are already in town, so it’s not a matter of who’s around but who fits the event.”
As reported by mirror.co.uk, Cheban should bring a fair share of controversy to Celebrity Big Brother – an insider with the show told the Daily Mirror, “Jonathan has a unique insight into the world’s most famous couple. He’ll also make great TV as he’s not afraid to shy away from a row and he’s pretty outspoken.” Another PR star on the big screen.