Here is a transcript of Tiger Woods’s latest statement regarding his alleged marital infidelity:
“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.”
This came on the heels of explosive “sext” messages and voice mails to reality TV contestant Jaimee Grubbs, allegations in US Weekly, New York Daily News, and New York Post of frequent groping sessions with women in clubs, and being seen with two women at Turning Stone Casino when he was supposed to be there for a charity event benefiting children.
It’s certainly not only a private matter when you make grillions off a squeaky clean image and turn out to be a hypocrite. It’s certainly not a private matter to go around in public allegedly groping women and encouraging/promoting marital infidelity.
If people are going to spend their money on you and your image, they deserve to know exactly what kind of person you are, and whether you deserve their money and adoration. When you become a public figure, you lose a great deal of the privacy rights of private citizens. It’s not a private matter when someone outside your family is involved. That’s no longer just a family matter.
Is the ability to cheat on your spouse a private matter? NO, it certainly is not. It leads to divorce, it ruins the lives of children, it clogs up the courts, and criminal matters – domestic violence – are routine ancillaries to such dalliances. When you cheat, you and your family are not the only ones who lose and suffer. Trying to say that these transgressions – serious ones – should be kept private, while other transgressions are not merely private matters is self-serving and vacuous. Which indicates to me that maybe Tiger isn’t sorry for what he did, but just sorry he got caught.
Still, he finally did the right thing – a little. Saying he apologizes is a step in the right direction. Now he needs to lighten up a little. Even though he is truly great, he thinks more of himself than he deserves…and that is why he is in this situation to begin with.
