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Ah, darn. It was such a pretty story.
The world’s best golfer, his gorgeous blonde bride, their two young children. As in his golf game, Tiger Woods seemed to conduct himself in life with nothing but class and honor.
At least from the outside.
The fairytale got bruised a little at the news of Woods’ car accident Nov. 27, when he left the house at 2:25 in the morning and crashed his Cadillac Escalade into a fire hydrant and a neighbor’s tree. His wife, Elin Nordegren, attacked the SUV with a golf club, either to help get the injured Woods out of it or to help make her point. It wasn’t clear which.
When he repeatedly turned away police officers who wanted to interview him about the accident, a few eyebrows were raised. Questions of domestic violence floated around; could he be hiding his wounds so as to muddy their origin? Was there something to hide? Was he protecting his wife?
At this point, the collective feeling among outsiders was to leave the story alone. It was a domestic matter between a married couple, and Woods deserved some privacy.
When the police investigation was closed and Woods simply was fined for reckless driving, it might have been the end of the story. Except it wasn’t.
"Hey, it's, uh, it's Tiger. I need you to do me a huge favor," says a voicemail message on the phone of 24-year-old Jaimee Grubbs, a woman who lives in Escondido, Calif.. "Um, can you please, uh, take your name off your phone. My wife went through my phone. And, uh, may be calling you. If you can, please take your name off that and, um, and what do you call it just have it as a number on the voicemail, just have it as your telephone number. That's it, OK. You gotta do this for me. Huge. Quickly. All right. Bye."
With that, the fairytale cracked wide open.
In a story in Us Weekly, Grubbs claims she had a 31-month affair with Woods, and that she has text messages and the voice mail to prove it. (The magazine would not comment on whether she was paid for the information.)
The National Enquirer has also published a story saying that Woods had an affair with New York hostess Rachel Uchitel, who has denied the allegation. Life & Style mentioned a third woman, Kalika Moquin, a 27-year-old Las Vegas nightclub executive. She has neither confirmed nor denied an affair.
But Woods, on his website, wrote a “profound” apology that also emphasized his desire for privacy:
“I have let my family down and I regret those transgressions with all of my heart. I have not been true to my values and the behavior my family deserves. I am not without faults and I am far short of perfect. I am dealing with my behavior and personal failings behind closed doors with my family. Those feelings should be shared by us alone.
“Although I am a well-known person and have made my career as a professional athlete, I have been dismayed to realize the full extent of what tabloid scrutiny really means. For the last week, my family and I have been hounded to expose intimate details of our personal lives. The stories in particular that physical violence played any role in the car accident were utterly false and malicious. Elin has always done more to support our family and shown more grace than anyone could possibly expect.
“But no matter how intense curiosity about public figures can be, there is an important and deep principle at stake which is the right to some simple, human measure of privacy. I realize there are some who don't share my view on that. But for me, the virtue of privacy is one that must be protected in matters that are intimate and within one's own family. Personal sins should not require press releases and problems within a family shouldn't have to mean public confessions.
“Whatever regrets I have about letting my family down have been shared with and felt by us alone. I have given this a lot of reflection and thought and I believe that there is a point at which I must stick to that principle even though it's difficult.
“I will strive to be a better person and the husband and father that my family deserves. For all of those who have supported me over the years, I offer my profound apology."
And now come leaked reports that Woods and his wife are in negotiations to change their pre-nuptial agreement, most notably the amount of money she were to receive should she stay with him for 7 years and appear with him at public events.
A negotiated happily-ever-after, it would seem.
WHAT DO YOU THINK?
Where do you stand on all of this? On one hand, the tabloid press was relentless in their efforts to sully the name of a beloved professional athlete. On the other hand, according to Woods’ own admission, they might have been right. Where do we draw the line in these days of instant messages, texting and everpresent technology? Can anyone in the public life expect any privacy at all? And why are we so addicted to fairytales?
Tiger Woods’ website:
http://web.tigerwoods.com/index
Woods’ words, from USA Today:
http://www.usatoday.com/sports/golf/pga/2009-12-02-woods-statement_N.htm
ABC News, on the women:
http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/tabloids-allege-woods-affairs-women/story?id=9232973
The prenuptial story:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-12-03/new-details-on-tigers-prenup/?cid=hp:mainpromo1
Add a Comment16 Comments
im tired of seeing all these so called women empowerment sites and wanna be feminist that talk about moral traditions that men themselves instilled and womens heads so what if tiger was sleeping around it was a mutual decision between him and who he decided to sleep with plus this stop pop article about someone elses personal life is suspose to be empowering for women seems just like gossip to me why dont u gossiping stero typical lil girls call something else maybe you should look up stuff by the person who started the feminist movement her name is emma goldman and read what it really means to be a feminist
May 25, 2010 - 7:20pmThis Comment
None of our business. We all need to mind our own.
April 6, 2010 - 1:16pmThis Comment
If you are going to commit your life to being a professional athlete, you have to be aware that your actions in both your public and private life are probably going to be reported. This goes for all celebrities. If Tiger Woods is so concerned with his image and private life he should have thought about his actions before committing them. That being said, there is no excuse for cheating. For those of you who are trying to defend Tiger, or place blame on Elin, you have obviously never been cheated on. It's insulting and humiliating and I don't blame Elin in the least for attempting to attack him with a golf club. And no, suzy, I'm not a pseudo-feminist, and I don't think anyone in a relationship deserves to be beat. However, I also don't think that anyone deserves to be cheated on either. If there was an issue in their marriage, Tiger should have talked to Elin about it. He should have written her a letter. He could have asked to go to counselling. He could have put on a damn puppet show about it. Sleeping with someone else will never solve problems, it will probaby created more, especially if you are a celebrity. He deserves to have his name all over the media, he should have thought about the repercussions before he committed those actions. As far as I am concerned, Tiger Woods gets what ever is coming to him, whether that be a golf club, focused media attention, or a loss of sponsorship.
March 18, 2010 - 4:23pmThis Comment
What do I think? I think you should mind your own damed business, you gossiping little nobody.
March 15, 2010 - 7:46amThis Comment
I am not interrested in his personal life.Why are people so shocked at all of this? He has his good side and he is a cheeter,just like so many other men.A cheeter is a cheeter.End of story.
February 22, 2010 - 6:40pmThis Comment
I read page one, but it's all rehash. You should try to add something of your own in paragraph one, because I don't care to read the same thing again.
December 19, 2009 - 10:01pmThis Comment
Sorry, Anon. This post was written on December 3. Yes, the story has moved leaps and bounds since then. At the time it was written, many fewer details were known. I'm glad you're reading, though!
December 30, 2009 - 8:35amThis Comment
Sometimes people just look at the after fact or the man action but they don't even want to know what made him act like that; we all know that some woman don't please their man enough, like having a schedule sex" what a joke"; the only reason i know that man do cheat on their woman is for lack of sex; we all know that how important sex is in a relationship; nobody knew what Tiger was going to, so stop blaming the guy if you don't know what happen.
December 15, 2009 - 6:54pmThis Comment
Maybe if Elin would have put out a little more, he wouldn't have to chase strange.
December 13, 2009 - 4:29pmThis Comment
Professional Athletes/Stars, etc.. Get into the business knowing their lives are going to be scrutinized. This should surprise them. What does irritate me is how much coverage it gets. Are we all really so bored/desperate to need to hear about this stuff all the time.
I don't personally give a flying pigs arse if he cheated on his wife or not. I don't know him or his wife. Nor will I ever meet them. It's none of my, nor anyone elses, business. Yet I see people chatting about it all the time. WHO CARES.
They do their job, we get entertainment or inspiration from them. Past that I don't need or want to know about their lives. Lets move on to real issue in the world. Hows ending world hunger coming? OH WAIT A CELEBRITY DIED/CHEATED/LIED/REVEALED THEIR NIPPLE, screw feeding hungry people, lets focus all media on that.
Our society sucks.
December 8, 2009 - 12:25pmThis Comment