Ken Sunshine
One of the most powerful celebrity publicists, Sunshine is the chief of the PR agency that bears his name.
Sunshine was communications director for the performing rights organization ASCAP when he was recruited by then-Deputy Mayor Bill Lynch to join the Dinkins administration as chief of staff in 1989. He didn't last very long: Following a series of public embarrassments, Dinkins publicly demoted him in 1990; a year later, he was out of City Hall completely and consulting on the Democratic National Convention. In 1994 he founded his own PR firm, Sunshine Associates, and began to shift his focus from politics to entertainment. Today he represents a slew of A-list celebs, a number of local political groups and a number of business leaders. In May 2007, the firm was renamed Sunshine, Sachs & Associates to reflect the promotion of longtime lieutenant Shawn Sachs to partner.
Over the years, Sunshine has represented the likes of Barbra Streisand, Justin Timberlake, Leonardo DiCaprio, Jon Bon Jovi, Tyler Perry, John Mayer, Jimmy Fallon, and Ben Affleck. Nick Lachey retained Sunshine to handle the fallout from his divorce from Jessica Simpson, and Sunshine quelled the media storm that erupted after Lance Bass came out of the closet. He's been very vocal when it comes to celeb privacy, decrying the paparazzi as "stalkerazzi," even though it's the celebrity industrial complex that keeps the phones ringing at his Fifth Avenue offices. [Image via Getty]