KEY POINTS:
The adage that there is no such thing as bad publicity for a celebrity is getting a workout these days - and so far appears to be holding true.
Actor Danny DeVito's drunken jokes about President George W. Bush on a morning television show was the most-viewed clip
on online video site YouTube on Friday with more than 1.6 million clicks - but the show's host shrugged off his behaviour.
DVD sales of the television sitcom Seinfeld were robust, 12th on Amazon.com's best-seller list on Friday, after actor Michael Richards' racist rant in a comedy club and his contrite public apologies with various black leaders.
And Disney expected moviegoers to look past Mel Gibson's drunken anti-Semitic comments - which were also followed by a public apology and a stint in rehab - when it came to his film Apocalypto, which screens next week.
"We really live in an era when there is no such thing as bad publicity for a celebrity," said Janice Min, editor of US Weekly, one of the leading US celebrity magazines.
"It is all about being the buzz of the day."
Jay Fishman, adviser to celebrity businesses and managing director of Financial Research Associates, said public gaffes created attention.
Richards had got more print recently than at any time since Seinfeld ended eight years ago and some people in fact learned that his name was not Kramer - the role he played on the show.
"It is only when these events are recurrent or heinous - such as murder or paedophilia - that it will really have an impact," said Fishman, citing O.J. Simpson and Michael Jackson, who were acquitted of murder and child-molestation charges, respectively.
"If the apology is done correctly, they can stay intact."
Min said the racist and ethnic slurs and public gaffes also fostered bigger discussions that interested people.
"Even the appearance of Britney Spears without underwear has got people talking about whether or not people should wear underwear," said Min. Spears, who split up with husband Kevin Federline last month, won headlines and an online following with a video of her getting out of a car with her dress hitched up - and no underwear.
Andrew Mendelson, an associate professor at Temple University in Philadelphia who specialises in celebrities, said apologies and crisis management went a long way to smooth over celebrity gaffes and sparked public debate.
"It is a morality lesson in what is proper behaviour. Celebrities are our way of seeing where our boundaries lie," Mendelson said.
"Political comments are fair ground even if they are personalised, but, increasingly, we are living in an age when people will not accept racist, anti-Semitic or homophobic comments.
"This will turn some of the public against them."
- REUTERS