Own it, mean it, go big and go public.

That is the advice given by Mike Paul, a New York public relations expert to celebrities who say "sorry"for their massive screw ups.

Chris Brown's recent apology for beating his girlfriend Rihanna in a pre-Grammy rage -- done through a video released on his personal website -- didn't follow Paul's golden rule for effective celebrity damage control.

Experts and gossip columnists say he should have apologized in a more sincere and accountable fashion.

Paul, president of MGP & Associates PR,  told CTV.ca that Brown should have agreed to a one-on-one interview with a well-known journalist, such as Barbara Walters, where he would have faced tough, no-nonsense questions.

"A true apology includes remorse, empathy, truth, humility, transparency, accountability and consistency. You have to have a repentant heart. You can't fake that. You can't manufacture that. Brown spent much of his video apology defending himself."

While Brown's apology may have sounded insincere, it was not uncharacteristic of celebrity apologies, said Paul.

"There are hundreds of celebrities who have tried to give an apology and nobody does it well."

DOSE magazine's managing editor, Jen McDonnell, told CTV.ca the public is way too forgiving of celebrities and their major immoral blunders.

"We forgive them for a lot of big stuff because they are movie stars who are cute and make us laugh. In some ways we expect bad behaviour from them, so as long as they try to act contrite, we will forgive them for pretty much anything," says McDonnell.

Here is a look back at some major celebrity muck ups and the way they have handled apologizing.

• 1995 - Hugh Grant gets caught cheating on girlfriend Elizabeth Hurley -- with a prostitute, no less. He flew home to England to confess to Hurley right away and went on "The Tonight Show" with Jay Leno to apologize.

"He was contrite and funny and didn't shy away from the tough questions asked right at the beginning. He completely recovered from that incident. Nobody thinks about Hugh Grant as the slimy guy who hooked up with prostitutes -- they think of him as the cute romantic comedy guy," McDonnell says.

• 2002 - Winona Ryder gets caught for shoplifting goods worth $5,500 from an exclusive department store in Beverly Hills. Her excuse to the security guard was that she was told to shoplift by a film director to prepare for a movie role. She never made a public apology, but did do court-ordered community service for her crime.

"She tried to forget about it and I think that backfired on her. When people remember her they will always think of those "Free-Winona" T-shirts," says McDonnell.

• 2006 - Mel Gibson and his anti-semantic ramblings when getting pulled over by police for driving home drunk from a party. He called the police woman "sugar tits." His apology included a couple of public statements regarding the incident and a chat with Diane Sawyer on "Good Morning America" to clear his name.

"It worked out really well for him. I think people have pretty much forgotten about that incident now," said McDonnell.

• 2006 -- Sienna Miller and her flippant statement about the city of Pittsburgh. She was taping for a movie in Pittsburgh, and when a reporter asked her how she liked the city, she called it "Shitsburgh." To appease the people of Pittsburgh who were up in arms, she called a press conference with the mayor of the city and apologized.

"She really diffused the situation and made sure she was not known for that incident," said McDonnell.