If 2025 taught us anything, it’s that reputations don’t usually collapse in a single moment — they erode through bad judgment, weak governance, tone-deaf leadership and an inability to read the room. This year’s most consequential public relations disasters didn’t just dominate headlines; they became cautionary tales studied in real time by crisis communicators, journalists and executives.
From storied institutions that couldn’t stop stepping on rakes, to public officials undone by vanity projects, to once-untouchable brands and leaders discovering that cultural backlash moves faster than any crisis response team, these episodes share a common thread: preventable mistakes compounded by poor communication. In several cases, the original problem wasn’t even the biggest issue — it was how leaders responded when scrutiny arrived.
The list below spans college athletics, utilities, federal agencies, professional sports, government, corporate America and pop-culture moments that exploded into full-scale crises seemingly overnight. Together, they offer a sobering snapshot of how quickly credibility can evaporate — and how unforgiving the public can be when accountability, transparency and humility are nowhere to be found.
Now, onto the list:
THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN FOOTBALL PROGRAM
Just when you think the University of Michigan football program has hit rock-bottom, they keep digging. In the past few years, the program fired assistant coach Matt Weiss after he was found to be hacking into female students’ social media accounts to steal private photos of them, fired assistant coach Connor Stallions for leading a sign-stealing campaign against opponents that violated NCAA rules, suspended then-head coach Jim Harbaugh for several games over recruiting violations, received four years of probation and millions of dollars in fines over the aforementioned sign-stealing scandal, and watched Harbaugh leave for the NFL as the NCAA punished him with a 10-year show cause penalty that would prevent him from coaching in college.
As terrible as all of that is, the university hit yet-another rock bottom when they abruptly fired head coach Sherrone Moore this month for having an inappropriate relationship with a subordinate. That relationship came to light when she tried to break it off, and he allegedly broke into her home and threatened to kill himself in front of her. Moore was the offensive coordinator at Michigan when the sign-stealing campaign happened, and he didn’t even last long enough as the head coach to finish serving his suspensions for that scandal. He was set to miss the first game of next season as part of his punishment.
COLORADO GOV. JARED POLIS
The best elected officials have the ability to bring the community together, and that is exactly what Gov. Jared Polis did this year. Unfortunately for him, that unity stemmed from near-universal opposition to his proposed legacy project – a winding, $29 million pedestrian bridge originally intended to connect the State Capitol to the City of Denver‘s Civic Center Park. When city officials balked, Gov. Polis’ team adjusted the termination point of the bridge from Civic Center Park to the state-owned Lincoln Veteran’s Park.
Public opposition to the bridge’s cost and overly elaborate design – perhaps most notably from 9News‘ Kyle Clark – became overwhelming and Polis tried to find a graceful exit. He announced that he would launch a public opinion poll to solicit feedback on whether to move forward, and 94% voted against the bridge. Gov. Polis then announced, “If needed, I will chain myself to the Capitol plaza to prevent it from being built,” as though he wasn’t the singular driving force behind the project.
BILL BELICHICK
As the six-time Super Bowl-winning coach of the New England Patriots, Bill Belichick was the man Denver Broncos fans loved to hate. Now, most of us just feel sorry for him. Well, some of us. Once viewed as the greatest coach in NFL history, Belichick’s Patriots team posted four losing seasons after star quarterback Tom Brady left. Fired by the Patriots, Belichick was unable to secure another NFL job and instead took the head coach position at the University of North Carolina.
The then-71-year-old also started dating a then-22-year-old, Jordon Hudson, who became a controlling figure in his life. Belichick had always been known for his autocratic style as a coach, so it was stunning to see a controversial “60 Minutes” interview with Belichick that featured his young girlfriend visibly interrupting and managing the interview on his behalf. The footage raised concerns about Belichick’s judgment and even his competence.
XCEL ENERGY
Xcel Energy‘s crisis response team is certainly well-tested, with the regular reliability and rate battles it fights with the Colorado PUC. But this year, the company layered several new challenges to its garden-variety crises. Xcel is the regulated monopoly that serves Denver, a designation that expires in 2026, and it must receive voter approval for it to continue. Unfortunately for Xcel, the Denver City Council refused to send an extension measure to the ballot, citing the need for reliability improvements and stronger accountability first.
As bad as that was, Xcel also agreed to pay $640 million to settle lawsuits associated with the Marshall Fire in Boulder County that caused an estimated $1.7 billion in damages. There were at least three reasonable theories for how the fire started, and only one involved Xcel – that high winds caused a fallen Xcel transmission line to spark the fire. Nevertheless, Xcel was willing to pay $640 million to avoid the uncertainty of a jury trial.
CRACKER BARREL
Nothing is less fun than being a political football in today’s culture wars, a fact with which Cracker Barrel would no doubt agree. The company hired a new CEO whose directive was to grow the restaurant’s revenues that had stagnated, and the company sought to introduce a new brand and image that would attract younger and more urban customers. That move – which included a new logo that dropped the image of a man in overalls and new, more modern interiors – provoked a backlash from long-time customers who liked the restaurant the way it was.
Appealing to new customers without alienating old customers is challenging enough, but many of the company’s conservative customers described the redesign as “woke,” a term that quickly attracted right-wing media and political attention. Even President Donald Trump weighed in on social media, urging Cracker Barrel to “go back to the old logo” and “admit a mistake.” The company ultimately abandoned the new logo, but its stock has plunged more than 60% (from $72 to $27) in the past five months.
THE ‘COLDPLAY COUPLE’
At a Coldplay concert this summer, the “kiss cam” captured what appeared to be an intimate moment between two audience members. When the camera lingered, the woman recoiled and the man ducked out of view. Lead singer Chris Martin joked, “Either they’re having an affair, or they’re just very shy.” The clip went viral, and internet sleuths quickly identified the couple as a company named Astronomer’s CEO and Chief People Officer — both married to other people. Astronomer placed both executives on leave and later accepted their resignations.
COLORADO ROCKIES
The Colorado Rockies have desensitized us to how anemic the team’s performance is year after year, but 2025 set a new low for the franchise. The team opened the season with an 8–42 record, the worst 50-game start in Major League Baseball in more than a century, and they finished the season at 43–119, which was their third straight season losing 100+ games. The season was so bad that the owners, the Monfort family, finally were motivated to fire the team’s GM and clean house.
Who would want the job? Plenty of people, according to The Wall Street Journal, which described the Rockies’ GM role “as the sport’s ultimate sadistic challenge.” Said the WSJ: “Their major-league roster is a disaster. The farm system is in shambles. They are notoriously slow to evolve and sit years behind their rivals. Oh, and they also happen to play their home games in an environment that is fundamentally incompatible with playing the sport of baseball.” Rockies fever – catch it!
TYLENOL
Tylenol is no stranger to crisis communications, and its stunningly successful response to the 1982 Tylenol cyanide poisonings is still taught in college crisis communications classes today. The ubiquitous tamper-proof seals on nearly all medication today were introduced by Tylenol in response to the poisonings. Forty years later, though, it would be a different PR crisis that the company would have to manage.
Earlier this year, President Donald Trump held a press conference and claimed that the active ingredient in Tylenol – acetaminophen – could cause autism if used by pregnant women. The science does not come close to supporting that claim, but media coverage was overwhelming. It immediately turned Tylenol into a MAGA/MAHA political issue. Adding insult to injury, it took President Trump three attempts to correctly pronounce “acetaminophen” during his televised press conference, even with whispered coaching from his subordinates standing behind him.
THE FEDERAL AVIATION ADMINISTRATION (FAA)
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) endured one of the most tumultuous years in its history. In January, 67 people died when an American Airlines flight collided with a military helicopter near Reagan National Airport, and investigators blamed FAA understaffing and communication breakdowns for the tragedy. Then, in June, the FAA restricted flights at Newark International Airport – the take-off point for as many as two-thirds of United Airlines‘ European flights – due to a severe shortage of air traffic controllers and failing, outdated electronic equipment.
Things really came to a head this fall during the U.S. government shut down. Already overworked and now unpaid air traffic controllers began calling in sick, creating nationwide delays. The FAA was forced to respond by cutting 10% of flights at 40 major U.S. airports to ease severe air traffic controller staffing shortages and fatigue.
MEDIA CAPITULATIONS
In 2025, several major broadcast networks demonstrated that principle often bends under financial pressure. CBS, ABC and others chose to resolve disputes with President Donald Trump not through prolonged legal fights or unwavering editorial defense, but through financial settlements and accommodations that made clear business sense. Faced with the prospect of costly litigation, regulatory retaliation and sustained public attacks, media executives opted for balance-sheet certainty.
From a corporate standpoint, the decisions were rational: limit exposure, protect shareholder value and move on. The damage, however, was reputational. By treating journalistic conflict as a line-item expense to be managed rather than a standard to be defended, these networks reinforced President Trump’s long-held belief that institutions will fold if the price of resistance is high enough. The settlements may have been financially smart, but they sent an unmistakable signal — that enough pressure, applied relentlessly, can turn even the largest media organizations into willing negotiators.
Denver Public Relations Blog 