Michael Phelps offers his suggestion on how to enjoy the Super Bowl
Baked.
Or not. After this photo of a nearly unrecognizable Phelps surfaced yesterday, the swimmer issued the following statement:
“I engaged in behavior which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment…I’m 23 years old and despite the successes I’ve had in the pool, I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way, not in a manner people have come to expect from me. For this, I am sorry. I promise my fans and the public it will not happen again.”
He went on to add: “I will however continue my goal of banging every stripper west of the Mississippi. I didn’t swim my balls off just to keep my mom in Chico’s pantsuits for the rest of her life. Love you, Moms. London in 2012! *cough*”
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Responses to "Michael Phelps offers his suggestion on how to enjoy the Super Bowl"
We all do things we shouldn’t do and hopefully Michael Phelps learned his lesson about smoking Marijuana and will once again be the role model he has always been.
I guess the term, “coming up for air” took on a whole new meaning for this guy. Too much time in the pool apparently makes Michael look for stimulus elsewhere.
It would be one thing to say he’s young and let’s hope he learns his lesson. But let’s not forget that, at 19, he pleaded guilty to a DUI charge. He’s lucky he didn’t hurt anybody then.
And, let’s also point out, that this bong thing apparently happened during some heavy, heavy partying with students from the University of South Carolina in November (if you believe the story in the News of the World, the London tab that broke the news). I guess it was his version of being the BMOC.
I don’t really blame the guy for cutting loose. He’s had to do some heavy duty training for much of his life. If he wants to be a d-bag for a while, he has pretty much earned it.
Man won 8 gold medals. Clean.
Man wants to party for awhile, party on. He doesn’t have to apologize to anyone. He does, however, have to sock the cameraphone jerk in the mouth.
There goes whatever was left of his supposed endorsement potential. What a dummy. It’s guys like him and that Shia dude who really piss me off. They’ve got the world at their feet, yet they just can’t say no because they don’t want to seem uncool in front of their friends. Whatever.
another reason why i’m glad i’m not a celeb: every stupid second of your life is scrutinized. strange ears decides he’s going to hit the bong @ a college party, wev. ahole there decides to take pix.
i agree w/stephen, cameraphone guy needs some special touching. after that, remember who you are and where you are.
swim team squares smoke weed out of a bongs. this is nothing new.
Wonder how many endorsements he will lose over this?
OK, let me add to my rant on this.
1) He isn’t just any other 23-year-old. He’s a 23-year-old with multi-million dollar contracts with businesses that pay him to act like an Olympic icon.
2) When you tie your money-making persona to the Olympic games, you’re expected to be a role model. So that means being smart enough to know that if you show up at frat parties or anywhere and, say, stick a bong in your mouth, odds are pretty good someone’s got a cellphone with a camera.
3) He knows the PR drill because he had to apologize when he almost blew it with his DUI as an underage drinker at age 19.
4) His handlers are wily enough to issue his statement of a apology — without admitting he toked — on Super Bowl Sunday in an attempt to minimize coverage and damage.
5) News of the World says Phelps’ aides offered them “extraordinary incentives” not to run the bong photo.
6) Because of who he is, he’ll be cut some slack … unless more embarrassing stuff shows up. (It’s interesting to me that a London tabloid blew his cover on this.)
6) It just goes to show, again, the difference between perception and reality. In this case, it’s the public Phelps persona shaped by savvy PR firms vs. the wanderings of a 23-year-old man who doesn’t know what to do with himself when he’s not swimming in a pool.
You know what really gets me about this story?? The fact that Mr. Phelps didn’t just stand up and say:
“Yeah, I was smoking weed. So what? I was high the whole time I was setting world records in the pool.”
It goes back to the whole ‘weed is the devil’ stigma that everyone puts on Marijuana.
And yet, more and more states in the US are recognizing it’s medicinal benefits.
Why is it that we continue to view marijuana as a “drug” that only “losers” use? Is there any one around with enough clout to stand up and say “I smoke weed, and there’s nothing wrong with it”? When will social and political changes be made, so that innocent and good people who might enjoy smoking a ‘bong’ every now and then won’t have to be incarcerated with murderers and rapists?
I just think that it’s about time we stopped judging people on how they choose to unwind. How many of you drank multiple beers during yesterdays game? Nobody is telling you to apologize, no one is saying “take away YOUR endorsements”. And I bet at some of these Super Bowl parties there were even kids present to witness all the fun.
I say, if you can do it, and not hurt anybody by doing it, then by god, give it a shot. WHo am I to tell you what to do?
I
Oh yeah, one more thing… As of today, neither his endorsement team, nor the IOC has condemned him or stripped him of anything. Kudos to them for being bigger than this story…
clearly this photo was not Mr. Phelps………that goofy guy from “Friends” with a “swimming” surname possibly, maybe even the “mac” guy from those “pc” ads, but NOT Mr. Phelps. My super sniffer senses London smear campaign to dethrone the “King” in 2012! just sayin’
Budd
Chris, the companies have way too much money invested in him to pull the rug, unless something else happens. They’re also probably waiting to see if there’s any public reaction. The IOC? Why would they condemn one of their big stars for London 2012? Phelps apparently is smart enough to know when he won’t be drug tested but not smart enough to realize cameras are everywhere to capture every thing he does.
To me, it’s not about the weed. My point is that he and his handlers project him as a goody-two-shoes persona (one built up with the help of media and magazine covers) while he apparently wants to live a different, partying lifestyle (DUI, weed, Vegas escapades, whatever). If he wants to be a “typical” 23 year old, then he shouldn’t have signed the contracts to take millions of dollars to be Mr. Olympics/Squeaky Clean. He can’t have it both ways because, right now, he’s a corporation, not a “typical” 23 year old.
@ Felicia – I agree with you on his endorsement deals, they probably won’t do anything about it unless there is some public outcry. Which I hope doesn’t happen.
I don’t understand why he can’t have it both ways though.. if he can do it, and still handle his job (and his handlers, the media, etc…) then who cares??? I don’t know why it has to be such a big deal.
Chris, I think it comes down to this: In the business/PR world, the Olympics still are held up as an ideal. We could call that thinking hokie or old school or outdated, but that’s what these companies expect when they shell out lots of dollars to Olympic standouts, especially a record-setting talent like Phelps. In other words, they own you for as long as they’re signing your checks. And Phelps, having already apologized profusely when he got the DUI several years ago, knows this is what’s expected. It’s why he can’t just live life the way he wants … unless he wants to give up the money. Then, yeah, dude, do whatever you want.
Just for funsies, here’s Jezebel’s roundup of 35 celebrities who have either been caught, or who have admitted to, smoking pot.
That Dave Chappelle clip is funny.
tetrahydrocannabinol rules
I think it’s a simple case of actions having consequences. If you expect a company to pay you a gazillion dollars to act like the squeaky clean icon they expect you to be, and you choose to give them the finger by getting a DUI or smoking pot in a world where camera phones are rampant, then you should know that you stand to lose those gazillions of dollars in endorsements. It happened to Rowdy Gaines. It may happen to Phelps. It may seem like – and may well be – a stupid little transgression or two (the pot, not the DUI) – but this is the real world. You play Russian roulette anytime you a) get behind the wheel drunk or b) smoke pot, and in public. Nine times out of 10 you may be fine – 99 times out of 100 you may be fine. Or, you might kill someone driving drunk. And, if you’re a world-class Olympic icon, you might take one bong hit and lose your endorsements. That’s life. No one ever said it was fair.
I cannot imagine what a bongload a guy with that enormous lung capacity could inhale. Phelps would burn through your entire 1/8 in about two hits…”Um, dude…you’re buying the next bag…”
Felicia, question for you: Is that fair?
I know he’s the public persona and the role model. I wonder if he has clauses in his endorsement contracts calling for impeccable behavior.
I’m a bit torn…does the public life allow itself (even with multi-million dollar contracts) a private life outside of public scrutiny.
I don’t think anyone will drop their endorsement deals with Phelps, since marijuana is such an accepted drug of choice among the masses, but I wonder if your public persona is allowed to be separated from your private persona, as long as you don’t commit what would be considered a major criminal or insensitive act (think Michael Richards).
Felicia?
Stephen, to me it’s not so much about the marijuana as his lack of responsibility to the companies who pay him and to parents who are trying to find role models for their kids. Again, the Olympic “heroes” are held to an even higher standard than other pro athletes. They’re supposed to personify the best in fair play, competition, team collaboration, etc. Phelps already has the DUI from when he was 19 (which I found much more disturbing). Now this.
If you sign contracts to be paid millions of dollar for being a role model, then your private life isn’t really private. (And, yes, there are probably morality clauses in those contracts, but the companies won’t invoke those unless some more embarrassing stuff comes out.) Camera phones are everywhere. If he wants to smoke dope (conveniently when he’s not being drug tested by the IOC or whoever), then he should use his brain and do it in the privacy of his own home. Heck, he can do a lot in private. And, let me add this, when I see a photo like this one, my first thought is “well, this can’t be the only time.” Is that fair of me? No, but it’s my response.
The view that he’s only 23 doesn’t address the path he’s chosen. It would be one thing if he’d won all his medals and then dropped out of sight, signed no endorsements and protected his privacy. But he opted for corporate money, which means you sacrifice parts of yourself. Is that fair? No, but it was his choice.
If this story doesn’t die down in the next few days or so, let’s all get prepared for the “Coming to Oprah” session and a PSA about substance abuse.
Smoking weed is still illegal.
Michael Phelps actively broke the law.
Law-breaking is a punishable act for everybody.
Doesn’t matter if he’s a role model, or how much he makes in endorsements, or what your stance on legalizing marijuana is. Doesn’t even matter that he’s worked his tail off for years and was trying to relax.
The bottom line is, he broke the law and was caught. He should be punished as anybody else breaking the law would be.