divert attention

divert attention" means to draw someone's focus or concentration away from something important, problematic, or the current subject, redirecting it to a different topic, person, or activity, often deliberately as a distraction or to avoid a difficult issue. It's about changing the focus from the original point of interest or concern to something else entirely. 

Key meanings:

• To distract: To pull focus away from something, like a magician misdirecting you from their hands.
• To redirect: To intentionally shift focus to a new subject, often to avoid a negative situation (e.g., "sportswashing diverts attention from environmental issues").
• To create a diversion: To offer something else as a distraction to keep people from noticing the real issue. 

Examples in use:

• "The politician's new proposal was meant to divert attention from the scandal."
• "The bright colors on the page divert attention from the boring text."
• "They used the announcement to divert attention from the company's poor performance." 

Synonyms:

• Distract
• Redirect focus
• Shift emphasis 

idiom. : to try to keep people from noticing or thinking about something. He was trying to divert/distract attention away from his friend's mistake.