I’ve worked for a dozen politicians and public figures who have gotten themselves into trouble. Some did things they shouldn’t have. Others made a bad situation considerably worse by refusing to admit what they’d done.
Thirty years in politics and public affairs will teach you a few things about scandal. One of them is that people in power have a remarkable ability to convince themselves they can talk their way out of almost anything.
Jensen Huang is a case in point.
The Nvidia CEO repeatedly denied having a personal relationship with Alice Huang. Then he admitted that the relationship was romantic and that he had been unfaithful to his wife.
So let’s be clear about what happened. He denied it. He kept denying it. And then he admitted it.
The relationship was one issue. The repeated denials created another.
I’ve watched politicians make this mistake over and over. They get caught, deny what happened and hope the story goes away. When that doesn’t work, they attack the people asking questions or come up with another explanation. By then, the original behavior is competing for attention with a much bigger problem: why did you lie about it?
We know a crisis communications firm was retained in October 2025. That’s a detail worth noting, though there’s nothing inherently unusual about bringing in experienced advisers when a high-profile executive faces scrutiny. What matters is what the CEO does with the advice he’s given.
I’ve watched communications professionals get put in impossible positions because the person at the top refuses to accept reality. The boss wants a defense. The facts don’t support one. And suddenly everyone around him is spending their time trying to protect him rather than the institution.
That’s what happens when a CEO believes his own importance makes him untouchable.
Huang’s situation carries additional questions about business relationships and potential foreign intelligence involvement. Those deserve serious investigation. But the personal scandal offers a lesson that anyone who’s spent time around powerful people will recognize.
The people who work for you may be afraid to challenge you. Your wealth may buy you access and influence. Your success may convince you that you can bend the rules.
But it doesn’t make the truth go away.
You can survive a scandal. It’s much harder to survive the discovery that you repeatedly denied something that turned out to be true.