Winona Ryder Court Cases

Winona Ryder: Public Relations Case Study

By the mid-1990s, Winona Ryder, a fresh-faced young actress, was one of the most prominent screen starlets of the time. She had many hit movies under her belt, including “Heathers”, “Edward Scissorhands”, “Beetle Juice”, and “Reality Bites”. Ryder, a native of Minnesota, was on top of the world. However, a few years down the line, Ryder had a brush with the law that was widely publicized. Both negative and positive outcomes stemmed from this situation. On December 12, 2001, Ryder was stopped at Saks Fifth Avenue in Beverly Hills by security guards after alarms were set off as she walked out of the store. After she was searched, she was said to have had over 20 items on her; which totaled a jaw-dropping $5, 500 worth of merchandise hidden in her shopping bags. Things took a turn for the worse when Ryder was also accused of carrying a large quantity of Valium and Demerol, two very strong painkillers, without a reported prescription. This proved a sticky situation for the once high-flying actress. After a two-week trial, which had reportedly been delayed, Ryder was convicted on
On more than one occasion, Ryder arrived at the courthouse in a bright red, flashy Porsche. This was a horrible public relations move, because it made Ryder look arrogant and disrespectful at such a serious time; showed that she had enough money to buy such an expensive car; and proved her lack of repentance. The articles of clothing that Ryder wore to court were also under great speculation. She proudly wore the same brands of clothing that she had stolen from Saks Fifth Avenue. Many things were wrong with this; because it proves once again that she can afford to own these clothes and obviously, she is a fan of the brands that she was accused of stealing. These moves were not the best moves to make while trying to reach out to the public for