PR Giant Edelman Dumps Border Detention Center Company

Edelman, the world's largest public relations firm, dropped GEO Group as a client over border detention centers, The New York Times is reporting.

Edelman had signed an agrement to represent the private prisons company, which has contracts with the Trump administration to operate immigrant detention centers.

According to the newspaper, the Florida-based business had been hammered by negative media attention stemming from reports about the separation of migrant children from their parents at the southern border. Lawmakers were demanding to see the detention facilities.

Edelman officials met with the GEO Group in May and, after partnering with the company in June, were supposed to start work in July. Their goal was to reshape the GEO Group's public image by "proactively correcting the record," the Times reported.

But Edelman employees voiced objections to the contract and the company dropped the account, the Times said.

The Times viewed screenshots of messages from Edelman employees on a networking app called Fishbowl.

"I am beyond disturbed," one employee wrote.

Another said: "This is an inherently political, moral & values based issue."

Adweek reported that Edelman was also worried about potential blowback damaging its relationships with other clients.

The Times reported Edelman confirmed it had dropped the GEO Group.

"Edelman takes on complex and diverse clients," a statement from Edelman said. "We ultimately decided not to proceed with this work."

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