We at Cinematical have had our share of feuds with publicists just like every other site, but we've always been on good terms with Fox publicist Tiffany Chen. I know her to be nothing less than a professional and someone who is responsive and helpful and a generally friendly person, and I was quite surprised to see the Chud.com post by Devin Faraci that accused her of acting unprofessional and rude at last night's Silver Surfer screening, which was by all accounts, a circus. Cinematical's managing editor Erik was there, and nearly walked out after having to sit next to a homeless person, among other things.

If you want the specific list of charges Devin hurls at Tiffany, you can read it here. Tiffany has chosen to release a response through us, which I'm going to begin quoting liberally from in a second, but first I just have to point out that this wouldn't be the first time Devin has gotten it wrong in the area of personal relations. I once went to a Fox Atomic event where, after a long night prior, I chose to sit quietly and sip some coffee and watch the proceedings. When I got home that night, several people pointed me to a similar rant by Devin that accused me of being unfriendly towards him. It ended with some kind of vague threat that I was going to be ostracized from the online film community because of it. I don't know what else to say about that.

Here is Tiffany, giving some background about last night's screening. "I am always really careful about RSVPs because I want to avoid situations like this. There is nothing worse than showing up for a screening/event and your name is not on the list. I read what Devin wrote on the site and the e-mail correspondance tells you exactly what happened. After I wrote back and told him about the screening, I asked him if he could make it with a guest. I got no reply that he was even coming -- with or without a guest. I send out dozens of invitations everyday and always need my contacts to reply back to let me know if they will be there. Most of them are really good about that, but sometimes people forget -- it happens. If I assume that everyone who received an invitation would be there, I would have a list three times as long. Carol Cundiff and Harvey Karten did send out invitations for this particular promo screening (not all-media) They always say that in order to attend, you must RSVP through me. This is especially why."

Tiffany goes on to talk about Devin's behavior towards her. "The dialogue between him and I is way beyond dramatic. I was in the theater checking the capacity and was on my way to the crowd when I ran into him by the concession stand. I guess he saw me and knew it was me (I had digital press kits and the guest list in my hand -- dead giveaways). He was in mid-sentence when I was face-to-face with him. With the crowd right behind him, I had to lean in to hear him. There were a handful of online critics who were not on the list, but after speaking to me, they all got in. There was space, so it was not a problem. Before he gave me a chance to even reach for the reserved ticket, he started ranting about how ridiculous it was that he was not on the list. He leaned in and threw the digital press kit (which scared me a bit because the box was a good six steps behind me -- I thought he was going to hit me) and said he'll just pay the $10 to see the film and stormed out."

Finally, Tiffany refutes the allegation in Devin's piece about a Fox publicist moving people around to make room for her boyfriend. "There were no Fox publicists there except for me. The girl that Devin is referring to at the bottom has absolutely no relation to Fox or Allied Advertising; she was part of the general admission audience. She did approach me a few times asking me if the press people can move to make room for her and her boyfriend. My answer was a definite no, but if someone voluntarily moved, I would have nothing to do with it. I would NEVER bump a press person for this."

She closes by taking the high road and saying that "this particular screening was especially crazed," but that "I'm sure that on a normal day Devin is a fine gentleman."