{{Short description|British talent manager}} '''Chris Herbert''' is a British talent manager who has helped oversee the careers of the Spice Girls, Five, Stephen Gately, Hear'Say, B*Witched, Honeyz and Ben's Brother.<ref name="hitquarters.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.hitquarters.com/index.php3?page=intrview/opar/intrview_Chris_Herbert_int.html |title=Interview with Chris Herbert |publisher=HitQuarters|date=23 Jul 2001 |accessdate=16 Nov 2010}}</ref> He is the son of talent manager Bob Herbert.
==Career== With father Bob Herbert a music talent manager the young Chris Herbert grew up in music industry orientated environment that had a large influence on his eventual career direction. At the age of twenty-one Herbert approached his father for advice and assistance in setting up his own talent management company.<ref name="hitquarters.com"/> Safe Corporation was founded as an independent music management company in March 1994. The first project the pair worked on was the creation of an all-girl pop group to cater to what he had identified as a potentially massive untapped market.<ref name="www.myspace.com/safemanagement">{{cite web |url=http://www.myspace.com/safemanagement |title=About Me |accessdate=16 Nov 2010}}</ref>
===Spice Girls=== {{main|Spice Girls}} By mid-1994, the Herberts and Chic Murphy had auditioned 600 applicants, and whittled the line-up down to Melanie Brown, Geri Halliwell, Victoria Adams, Lianne Morgan (replaced by Melanie C) and Michelle Stephenson (replaced by Emma Bunton).
After a large amount of development in studios, the final group line-up felt insecure about the lack of a contract and frustrated by the direction in which Heart Management was steering them. Chris Herbert set up a showcase performance for the group in front of industry writers, producers and A&R men in December 1994 at the Nomis Studios in Shepherd's Bush.<ref name="Sinclair book">{{cite book|last=Sinclair|first=David|title=Wannabe: How the Spice Girls Reinvented Pop Fame|year=2004|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eaxbWJ7dpu8C&q=david+sinclair+wannabe|publisher=Omnibus Press|page=33|isbn=9780857121110}}</ref> Due to the large interest in the group, the Herberts quickly set about creating a binding contract for the group, but all five members delayed signing on legal advice. In March 1995, because of the group's frustration at their management, due to the lengthy development period, they parted from the Herbert's Heart Management.
After signing an agreement with Simon Fuller of 19 Entertainment, they released their first single in summer 1996.
===Tulisa Contostavlos Sex tape=== {{main|Tulisa Contostavlos#Sex tape}} Herbert was the manager of Justin Edwards, also known as MC Ultra. With his career not gaining traction, in late 2011 Edwards advised Herbert that he had a sex tape of himself and ex-lover Tulisa Contostavlos, now a well-known singer and judge on the UK version of ''The X Factor''.<ref name=BBCNewsbeat>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/19055236|title=Tulisa sex tape would be career suicide, says Herbert|publisher=BBC Newsbeat|date=31 July 2012|accessdate=1 August 2012|archive-date=31 July 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120731221533/http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsbeat/19055236|url-status=dead}}</ref> Herbert says that he advised Edwards not to release the tape, but by early 2012 Edwards had an agreement with others to distribute the tape. Herbert says that he advised Edwards not to do this, but negotiated a legal restraint clause with the contract Edwards signed as it was "career suicide".<ref name=BBCNewsbeat/> The tape was released to the press in March 2012.<ref name="mtvsex">{{cite web|url=http://www.mtv.co.uk/news/tulisa-contostavlos/352217-tulisa-sex-tape-mc-ultra-video-confession-dappy-n-dubz-fazer|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120324204608/http://www.mtv.co.uk/news/tulisa-contostavlos/352217-tulisa-sex-tape-mc-ultra-video-confession-dappy-n-dubz-fazer|url-status=dead|archive-date=March 24, 2012|title=Tulisa's Sex Tape Confession: "It Is Me"|publisher=MTV|date=22 March 2012|accessdate=5 May 2012}}</ref> Contostavlos was quickly granted an injunction (Contostavlos v Mendahun) that legally blocks the distribution of the tape worldwide. The injunction prohibits anyone from using, publishing, communicating or disclosing all or any part of the film to any other person.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/9155127/Tulisa-sex-tape-removed-after-lawyers-obtain-injunction.html | location=London | work=The Daily Telegraph | title=Tulisa 'sex tape' removed after lawyers obtain injunction | date=20 March 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2012/apr/19/tulisa-dont-like-getting-emotional?newsfeed=true | location=London | work=The Guardian | first=Kira | last=Cochrane | title=Tulisa: 'I don't like getting emotional' | date=19 April 2012}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Herbert, Chris}} Category:1970 births Category:Living people Category:Spice Girls