If you have ever wondered why one celebrity lands a glossy profile, a business feature, or a quote in a major outlet while another gets ignored, the answer usually is not fame. It is a process.
Big publications run on deadlines, editorial angles, and reader value. Celebrities who appear regularly in top-tier press typically have a clear story, solid proof, and a team that knows exactly who to pitch, when to pitch, and how to make the journalist’s job easier. When that happens, the coverage can snowball into more opportunities, stronger brand partnerships, and a long tail of credibility that keeps paying off.
There is a reason this is hard. Journalists are flooded with pitches every day, and most of them miss the mark. In one widely cited industry survey, 46 percent of journalists said they receive six or more pitches per workday, and the top reason they reject pitches is simple: they are not relevant to what the journalist covers.
So what actually works?
What Forbes and Business Insider look for
Before tactics, it helps to understand how these outlets think.
Forbes often publishes stories that sit at the intersection of business, leadership, money, influence, and ambition. That could be a celebrity launching a brand, scaling a company, investing, acquiring, or building a new identity beyond entertainment. A Forbes editor or contributor still needs a story that teaches or reveals something meaningful to readers, not a promotional announcement dressed up as news.
Business Insider tends to lean into timely business angles, culture and money stories, trend narratives, the creator economy, and behind-the-scenes context that explains how something works. A strong Business Insider story is usually about the mechanism, the lesson, or the wider trend, with the celebrity as the most visible example of it.
Major press in general is driven by the same core question: why should the reader care today?
Step one is not pitching, it is finding the story
Most celebrities do not lead with “please write about me.” They lead with a narrative hook that fits the publication’s beat.
A hook is usually one sentence. It answers three things: what happened, why it matters, and why now.
For example, if the angle is “celebrity launches skincare line,” that is not enough on its own. A stronger hook adds specifics: an unusual method, a measurable result, an underserved market, or a broader trend the launch represents.
This is where many pitches fail. Journalists say relevance is what they need most. When pitches do not match the beat, they are rejected quickly, often without a response. Muck Rack+1
Proof beats hype every time
When a celebrity lands a real feature, there is usually something verifiable behind it. Numbers help. Documents help. Credible third-party context helps.
Think of proof as the difference between “this is huge” and “this is real.”
That might be sales figures, streaming performance, tour revenue, a partnership with a known brand, an acquisition, funding, or a measurable philanthropic outcome. When it is not possible to share exact numbers, strong ranges, audited references, or independent validation can still move a story forward.
Cision’s State of the Media research consistently points to the same trio journalists want from PR: relevant pitches first, then expert connections, then data.
In practice, that means your pitch should feel like a ready-to-run package, not an introduction that forces the journalist to do all the work.
The team behind a “random” media hit
A celebrity feature that looks effortless is usually engineered.
Most public-facing people have some version of a PR stack. It can be an in-house publicist, an outside agency, a manager who coordinates messaging, and a brand partnerships lead who times announcements around campaigns. The publicist’s job is to place the right story with the right journalist, but their real superpower is packaging.
Packaging includes a clean bio, approved images, clear talking points, a short quote the journalist can use, and a reliable way to verify claims. When a journalist can copy, confirm, and publish faster, the story has a higher chance of happening.
The real secret: pitch the writer, not the publication
People say “I want Forbes,” but Forbes is not one inbox. It is thousands of writers, editors, and contributors, each with their own beats, preferences, and deadlines.
The fastest way to waste a pitch is to send a generic message to a general contact.
The better move is to find a writer who already covers the topic and has published something similar recently. If they wrote about celebrity founders, creator businesses, fashion brands, sports investments, or entertainment finance, your pitch should reference that theme and offer a fresh angle that fits the pattern.
This is also why email remains the default. According to Cision’s research, journalists overwhelmingly prefer to receive pitches via email.
The pitch that gets opened and read
A good pitch is short, specific, and respectful of time.
The subject line should be clear enough that a busy writer knows the angle instantly. Inside the email, the opening should explain the story in plain language, then include two or three proof points that show credibility, then end with a simple next step such as an interview offer or a quick fact-check call.
Forbes has explicitly advised aspiring writers and pitchers to focus on how a story impacts and educates readers, which is a useful mental filter even when you are pitching a profile rather than an op-ed. Forbes
If your pitch reads like a marketing brochure, it will be ignored. If it reads like a journalist’s own article outline, it has a chance.
Exclusives and timing are not glamorous, they are practical
Celebrities get major coverage because they understand how news cycles work.
An exclusive can be as simple as giving one outlet the first interview, the first images, or the first look at a product. That makes the journalist feel safe investing time, because they will not be racing ten competitors who publish the same press release.
Timing also matters on the follow-up. If you follow up too quickly, you look desperate. If you wait too long, the moment passes. Cision research suggests many journalists want a couple of days to review a pitch before a follow-up lands.
The best teams plan for this. They pitch early enough that the writer can research, but not so early that the story loses urgency.
Why many pitches never get a reply
A brutal truth of modern PR is that silence is common. In the Muck Rack study, a large share of journalists said they seldom or never respond to pitches. Muck Rack+1
That is not always a “no.” Sometimes it is a time problem, sometimes it is a relevance problem, and sometimes it is simply inbox overload.
This is why celebrity teams keep the process tight. They do not send one pitch and hope. They build a small list of ideal writers, tailor the angle to each, and move on quickly if the timing is wrong.
The playbook, simplified
Here is what the best celebrity PR looks like when you strip it down to its essentials.
- First, define the one-sentence hook that fits a specific beat.
- Second, attach proof points that make the story credible without forcing the journalist to dig.
- Third, target a writer who has covered something close to your angle in the last few months.
- Fourth, write a short email pitch that reads like a mini story brief, not an ad.
- Fifth, make the next step easy with availability, assets, and a clean quote.
- Sixth, follow up politely after a reasonable window, then move on or re-angle.
This is not magic. It is just disciplined execution in a noisy environment.
If you are not a celebrity, you can still use the same system
This is where the topic becomes useful for founders, creators, and even niche site owners.
The media does not only cover celebrities. It covers stories. If you can package a relevant story with proof and send it to the right journalist, you can earn coverage too.
Working with a digital PR agency can help here, especially when you want consistent pitching, tighter targeting, and reporting that shows what is working and what needs a better angle.
Conclusion
Celebrities get featured in major outlets because they treat the press like a strategy, not a lottery. They lead with a story that fits the publication, back it with proof, pitch the right writer, and respect the journalist’s time with tight messaging and usable assets.
If you want your own press wins, borrow the same approach. Start with relevance, then make it easy for a journalist to say yes.
