Getting canceled used to be a career-killer; now, it’s a growth opportunity. This shift is in part due to the work of BCC Communications founder and crisis consultant Mitchell Jackson. He’s turned outrage into fawning (at least in some quarters) for everyone from right-wing podcaster Candace Owens to millennial influencer Caroline Calloway.
When you were little, what were you known for?
My mom is a hypochondriac, and she diagnosed me with a fake disability called Irlen Syndrome. The cure was for me to wear pink or blue lenses every day. So I was running around on the playground, bullying other kids, while wearing pink glasses.
What do you think is your biggest contribution to culture?
Impossible to name one, but this year so far, art directing Clavicular’s mug shot and getting him profiled in the New York Times, and booking him in his runway show debut, all in one week. [As of April 16, Mitchell no longer represents Clavicular following his on-camera overdose.]
What keeps you up at night?
My clients! As a publicist and crisis communications consultant, I love serving my clients. I am also always thinking, a million miles a minute, about how I can protect them. I will wake up with ideas for new press stunts. I will also wake up recognizing problems that could erupt and need to be fixed before they become issues. Best time to fix a crisis: before it happens.
What do you want to see more of in your industry? Less of?
Less dumb publicists who only know how to hold girls’ hands on red carpets. More publicists who read.
What question do you ask yourself most often while you’re making work?
I am always asking myself, What will nobody see coming? I love to put a client on a platform where nobody expects to see them coming, like when we placed Candace Owens in New York magazine (profile by Brock Colyar) and on The Breakfast Club.
What would you like the headline of your obituary to be?
“Mitchell Jackson Was Behind the Fall of Western Civilization.”
What grounds you, and what invigorates you?
My hot husband grounds me and invigorates me. Highly recommend marrying a 10.
What are you looking forward to this year?
Going to Tokyo Disneyland and seeing Tristan und Isolde at the Metropolitan Opera. The Met is my favorite place on earth (along with Disneyland). I wish the Met would work smarter with younger people. They advertise the Met to Gen Z as cheap, when they should promote it as a luxurious night to dress up. Gen Z doesn’t want discounts. Young people love Klarna! And young people would love Yuval Sharon’s work if they knew him.
What’s something people get wrong about you?
People think I like Donald Trump. I hate Donald Trump. I grew up in South Florida in the drug era. I can recognize a con artist a mile away, and Trump is a con artist.
Name an influence of yours that might surprise people.
Spice Girls manager Simon Fuller and Michael Jackson.
Where do you feel most at home?
Reading a book (paper only) and drinking Earl Grey tea, ideally in the courtyard at Lincoln Center or on Tom Sawyer’s Island at Disneyland. Starbucks will also do.
Who do you call the most?
My husband, who is very private, and my old boss, legendary book publisher Judith Regan. She once published Howard Stern and Rush Limbaugh’s books on the same day. A legend.
What’s your biggest vice? Your greatest virtue?
My biggest vice is going overboard on scheduling my time. I do not need to have “sleep” in my calendar. I can be OCD about everything. My greatest virtue is I am defiant. I will always get up after I fall.
What would you wear to meet your greatest enemy?
A smile, but my husband made me delete my enemies list. So I no longer technically have enemies.
To read more from the 2026 CULT100 honorees, see the full list here.
in your life?
