PR heavyweight drops Kushner Companies as client

Crisis management guru Risa Heller has dropped Kushner Companies as a client.

Heller, who for more than a year represented the family real estate company of presidential son-in-law Jared Kushner, cut ties with the client earlier this week, Politico reported. Her tenure was longer than many predecessors who had a difficult time working with Charlie Kushner, Jared’s father, a notoriously tough boss.

Her departure comes amid outrage over President Trump’s response to neo-Nazi protests in Charlottesville, Virginia this month, as well as a PR crisis on several fronts for the Kushner family.

The company is under fire for pushing for the arrest of tenants who hadn’t paid their debt in Maryland.  Earlier this year, negotiations to redevelop its flagship tower at 666 Fifth Avenue with Anbang Insurance Group fell through.

Heller’s work with members of the Trump administration bothered some in New York political circles, where the straight-talking flak had been a longtime Democratic operative who worked for Sen. Chuck Schumer and former Rep. Anthony Weiner. Now the head of her own firm, Risa Heller Communications, she began working with both Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump before they joined the White House.

Heller declined to comment on her move. A new spokesman for Kushner said the company decided to replace her this week. [Politico] – E.B. Solomont