Publicist Max Markson He knows better than most that show business is all about timing.
That is why we note with interest his bold declaration last Thursday that the walking cautionary tale Andrew O’Keefe not only could – but wanted to – resurrect his shattered career and return to the spotlight.
Lo and behold, the agent’s prophetic words came true the next day, when O’Keefe found himself back in the spotlight, although perhaps not in the way Markson had hoped, as Inside Mail colleague Stephen Gibbs revealing that the former game show host had been arrested, once again, for drug driving.
The ever-positive Markson still believes he can rehabilitate the disgraced former Weekend Sunrise host, who has a string of convictions for domestic violence and drug offences, and spends more time in court than Judge Judy, between massages at clandestine massage parlors.
It seems exaggerated to us, but the irrepressible optimist is not intimidated.
‘I still sincerely believe that Andrew will recover. He’s coming back and 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 into 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).
Advertising supremo Max Markson (pictured) has boldly declared that former Deal or No Deal host Andrew O’Keefe’s career is not over yet.
Sign up, OK.
After all, when it comes to reputation rescues, the irrepressible spruiker is undoubtedly one of the best in the business.
Just take a look at his surprising results when he was convicted as a drug mule, former prostitute, and serial revisionist. Cassie Sainsbury decided to publish a book about the true story behind his unfortunate smuggling of 5.8 kg of cocaine in the Colombian capital of Bogotá.
Which, perhaps unsurprisingly, was different from all the other true stories she had sold to Nine’s 60 Minutes and Seven’s Spotlight since she was beaten at the notorious Good Shepherd women’s prison in April 2017.
Markson helped prepare comprehensive interviews with news programs on all broadcast networks, as well as spots on the breakfast shows Sunrise and Today, along with The Project.
Even ABC and Sky got in on the act.
None of them quizzed Sainsbury about its ever-evolving narrative, its changing cast of characters and its self-serving claims of victimhood, although there were plenty of plugs for its books and large graphics on its cover.
Andrew O’Keefe melted live on Weekend Sunrise in 2017
Screw the profits of crime and truth: there are ratings to be gained.
Besides, if you can’t trust a convicted drug mule to tell you the truth on the seventh try, who can you trust in this crazy, confusing world? If Sainsbury says she is the real victim, then she is the real victim.
Now, Markson doesn’t make up the stories, he just sells them, and he’s proven himself to be quite the salesman.
If anyone can change O’Keefe’s destiny, it’s him.