In the world of digital marketing and entertainment, reputation is currency. Yet time and again, we see how entertainment entities survive scandals that would flatten others. A case in point: Gushcloud International, a Singapore-born marketing and talent agency that, despite a problematic track record, continues to court relatively high-profile partnerships—including with embattled hip-hop mogul, Russell Simmons.
Gushcloud’s reputation took a hit in 2015 when a leaked campaign showed its influencers were paid to deliberately post negative commentary about Singtel’s competitors, M1 and StarHub. This smear campaign, disguised as personal opinion, undermined public trust in influencer marketing. The Infocomm Development Authority launched an investigation, and both Singtel and Gushcloud issued formal statements to address such conduct.
Yet nearly a decade later, Gushcloud exists, with offices in 11 countries, a talent portfolio and recently partnered with Russell Simmons—a man who left the United States, for Bali, in the wake of multiple sexual misconduct allegations. While Simmons has denied the claims, his continued celebration by companies like Gushcloud raises serious questions about whose voices are valued and whose are erased in the name of entertainment.
Why does someone like Simmons still command stages, ceremonies and profiled slots at global events like F1 Singapore’s Hip Hop 50 celebration? The answer lies in a brutal reality: many industries remain willing to overlook allegations—no matter how credible or severe—when money, prestige, or proximity to power is at stake.
But this kind of selective accountability should not exist in a vacuum. It sends a message: that influence outweighs integrity, that careers of the accused are worth protecting more than the alleged victims, and that we, as an industry, are comfortable moving on without actual reckoning.
This is especially concerning when we connect the dots to more local and recent events. Just last month, Chia Boon Teck, the vice-president of the Law Society of Singapore, was forced to resign after making remarks widely condemned as victim-shaming. Chia described the survivor as “not exactly a babe in the woods” and questioned whether she was “awake” during the convicted’s assault—a deeply troubling attempt to shift blame and undermine the trauma she endured.
Public outcry led to his resignation, and rightly so. His comments were not just inappropriate—they were symptomatic of a larger issue in professional spaces: the failure to take power imbalances and consent seriously. What does it say about us, as a creative and commercial ecosystem, when a lawyer is swiftly and rightly called out for victim-shaming on a public forum, with widespread whispers that still percolate through the industry, with Stephanie Yuen Thio adding her added spice to the topic, yet a marketing firm can host and honor a figure like Simmons without widespread industry backlash?
If Asia’s creative and influencer industries want to position themselves as progressive, inclusive and future-ready, we must stop operating with double standards. The standards we apply to institutions like the Law Society must extend to brands and businesses that shape culture and visibility.
Representation is not just about putting local faces on global stages, it is about ensuring those stages do not continue to endorse such errant behaviour, silence or even more egregiously, victim blame. It is about creating a space where integrity is not optional and where accountability would not be conveniently forgotten. At a time when trust in media, marketing, and the law is being tested, this is our moment to draw the line. To decide what kind of culture we want to build—and who we are willing to support, to get there.
Featured image credit: Russell Simmons, Billboard.
Stay updated and social with Popspoken: LinkedIn | Instagram
