It News: Will cheating scandal hurt or help careers of Rupert Sanders and Liberty Ross?

August 9, 2012

Will cheating scandal hurt or help careers of Rupert Sanders and Liberty Ross?

By Hollie McKay
Pop Tarts
Published August 09, 2012
FoxNews.com

Liberty Ross and Rupert Sanders are trying to work things out following Sanders' admission that he cheated on Ross with Kristen Stewart, the young star of his last film.
Multiple reports say the couple, who have two young children, are talking to marriage counselors, and photographs of Sanders and Ross have popped up on several celebrity sites.
But while Ross and Sanders may be able to salvage their marriage, their careers may be another matter. Especially his.

“The whole affair could prove to be a serious bend in his career, at least temporarily, as he will not likely direct the 'Snow White' sequel,” Hollywood watcher Ariane Sommer told FOX411’s Pop Tarts column. “He might get shunned for being a trouble-maker and not being level-headed enough to make smart decisions.”
What’s more, it seems Sanders doesn’t have work lined up to distract from the mayhem. According to his IMDB profile, he has no future projects listed aside from a “rumored” directorial role in the “Snow White” sequel.
“Rupert may have a much harder time going forward than Kristen Stewart, but the box office success of ‘Snow White and the Huntsman’ guarantees a follow-up film,” explained entertainment/pop culture expert, Scott Huver. “Still, neither he nor his work is very well-established commodities, either with Hollywood insiders or the general audience. One hit does not cement a career, and he’ll be in need of a trouble-free shoot and a commercial and creative success to ensure future directing gigs going forward.”
But entertainment reporter Michael Cohen thinks the Sanders/Stewart' cheating scandal will have little effect on the director's prospects.
“Studios will absolutely still work with him because if he has the next box office blockbuster on his hands, that is all that matters,” he said. “There may be a joke made about him not sleeping with the cast and crew, but that’s it. Maybe the studio will take out some better insurance just in case his indiscretions result in a lawsuit, but that is pittance compared to a blockbuster. If anything, he just made himself a little bit more famous and desirable to work with.”

It is Sanders' wife, who had a small part in "Snow White" playing Stewart's mom (ouch), who could profit most from the publicity.
“Nobody knew who she was before and now people are buzzing about her,” one well-placed film producer said. “This can definitely help her at least get into the audition room.”
Another said the extra press attention has strong potential to revive Ross’s modeling career, too, but she'll have to “tread carefully” if she is to turn her pain into fame. “People are very interested in her story, namely the basic question of how she is coping. If she can speak generously on the topic, she can gain momentum,” said Los Angeles-based celebrity life and career strategist, Suzannah Galland. “If she gives in to bitterness, or harps on having been a victim, sympathy for her would fade and she will just turn into yesterday’s news.”
Others anticipate that Ross’s surge into the spotlight will be fleeting.
“Liberty’s acting career has been irrelevant and I suspect it will stay that way. She is just another woman whose husband cheated on her and they are a dime in a dozen,” Cohen added. “What it will revive for Liberty is perhaps an interesting profile in Vanity Fair. She makes for a great magazine profile as I bet a lot of people would like to know how she feels about all this, but I don’t really see her as the cover model.”