Phelps bong smoking pics are at News of The World
Record-setting Olympian Michael Phelps was photographed taking a hit off a bong at a party at the University of South Carolina. The photo was said to be taken in early November when Phelps was secretly seeing a co-ed at the college, probably one of many women he was seeing at the time. News of The World has the photo along with a party-goer’s account that he was smoking weed, drinking beer and doing plenty of shots with everyone. It’s not really surprising or shocking, but Phelps has a reputation as a highly focused athlete and plenty of multi-million dollar endorsement deals to protect. News Of The World claims that his people worked hard to try and convince them not to run the story:
The US Olympics Committee, who have pledged to clamp down on drug use, refused to comment, as did USA Swimming and Phelps’ coach Bob Bowman.
More surprising still was the World Anti-Doping Agency’s refusal to comment, given that they introduced the four-year ban on sport’s drug users.
Phelps, who earned £4million last year in endorsements, has resumed training for the 2012 games.
But there were fears about his commitment when, weeks after the bong incident, he began dating former stripper Caroline Pal.
Phelps is represented by marketing giant Octagon, which works with huge brands such as Mastercard and HSBC. They admitted proven cannabis use would be “a major taint” on Phelps’ character.
Spokesman Clifford Bloxham offered us an extraordinary deal not to publish our story, saying Phelps would become our columnist for three years, host events and get his sponsors to advertise with us.
In return, he asked that we kill Phelps’ bong picture. Bloxham said: “It’s seeing if something potentially very negative for Michael could turn into something very positive for the News of the World.”
He stressed that the swimmer had taken 1,500 drug tests and never failed one.
[From News of The World]
After News of The World refused Phelps’ spokesperson’s offer, he handled the situation with a well worded admission. Phelps has good people behind him who know how to deal with the press:
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
It’s a blip on the media radar that will affect Phelps more than anyone else. Marijuana use is common and not that damning, but for athletes there are more issues to consider. As one the top Olympians in the world Phelps doesn’t want to tarnish his image with some recreational pot use. That’s his business, though, and if he doesn’t pass a drug test he won’t be allowed to compete. When you consider all the people paying him to endorse their products he’s only costing himself money by drinking and smoking up at parties. Phelps shaped himself into an incredible athlete with focused hard work and determinism. He has to be more discreet with his partying if he wants to enjoy the perks that go along with that.
Michael Phelps is shown at book signings for his new biography on 12/9/08 and 12/10/08 and filming a commercial for Mazda on 1/14/09. Credit: WENN
poor kid. that sucks that someone told on him, but he is a real dumbass for doing that. AD/HD kids or adults often make impulsive choices that they regret later.
Pot? Who cares? When oh when will they make this legal so we can stop wasting time and money on this ‘problem’??
Poor guy, all those medals and he can’t even have a couple of weeks off to be normal. Needs to get a clue on the people he’s hanging around with – stories like this are golddust to the media.
I read that he also had a DUI after the Athens Olympics.
This is unfortunate for his image.
JERK. He doesn’t deserve anything after this. He is no role model for kids. He should be dropped from all advertising. No excuse whatsoever for his behavior. He certainly knew better but thought he was above it.
Poor guy. Seems like he’s entitled to some down time. It’s odd, at least to me, how he could have been chugging a giant brewski and staggering around and it would be okay because he’s over 21 and it’s legal. A toke on a bong and it’s a whole ‘nother story. Geez, it’s not like he was snorting lines or worse.
What’s the story here America’s repression?
don’t care what he smokes/drinks
feel sorry for the suckers that worship him and are now realizing that he’s human and yes, even super athletes make bad choices.
the fans need to learn from this not to idolize him or anyone for swimming fast.
get some real heroes- surgeons, teachers, researchers…
Why is pot still even an issue?
Christ, it’s not like he’s living in Mom’s basement, getting high instead of looking for a job. He’s done more in his 23 years than most will do in an entire lifetime. I think he deserves a little slack here. Not that he’ll get any (at least not in the US).
I can’t believe that dolt allowed his picture to be taken. Hello! Idiot!!
no sh^t codzilla-let the dude have a few tokes. NJMTDPS or whatever your screenname is, chill out and get off your high horse. id like to see any of your kids be the winningest olympian ever, so before you start yammering about his deplorable behavior, know that most reasonable people don’t consider marijuana to be a terrible drug, and that this is his downtime. he’s proven himself to be a capable student when he needs to be, bucking down and training 8 hours a day to pull off an unprecedented athletic feat. the the F#ck what if he has a few bong hits.
Back in the day, I used to hang out with another high profile swimmer (a ’90’s gold medal winner). We used to PARTY and yet he went off to the Olympics and won gold medals.
For that kid, pot was the least of his concerns, he was a walking pill bottle/candy man. He too, was worth big $$ in endorsements and yet didn’t care. We would chill at his place and there would be checks un-cashed! His “dryland” lifestyle would eventually catch up with him and he was banned from ever swimming again (because of pot)!
I guess the whole point of this, is that pot is just what we see here, dolphin boy may be on other “meds” and if that’s the case, hopefully this is a wake-up call!
The intrusions of fame. A lot of people are never prepared for what it actually means. Isn’t this like Kristen Stewart taking a tote on her front step that time?
Happens.
Amen, sandy! I’ve never read the job description for “Obscenely Talented Olympic Athlete,” but I’m willing to bet that there’s nothing in there that says it’s his duty to serve as a surrogate brother or father figure to kids whose own parents won’t take responsibility for guiding them through life. He’s a swimmer, not a nanny. And besides, no 23-year-old should be looked at as a role model of any sort! EVER!
Let the guy have some fun, why are people shoving the role model sh*t on his shoulders? The US is way too paranoid about smoking weed.
Yeah, for_realz, I know how that one REALLY ends: the Big Bad Wolf comes along and devours the guy’s grandma (becasue of pot. Apparently, the wolf had the munchies)…
I actually have heard that story before, when a policeman came and talked to my 7th grade about drug use (except in that version, the “friend” was, I believe, a basketball player).
Good luck to all the parents, teachers, youth leaders, etc. trying to convince kids that pot is bad when Micheal fucking Phelps smokes it. (I’m still laughing at “major taint”)
hey mandy, that’s funny! was that during the DARE program?
but, it is true. this kid would party with the nose candy, powdered Ritalin (for non-existent ADD), drank like a fish and had a bag for any kind of upper/downer you could think of.
i was just a party girl and not a professional athlete.
what people choose to do or ingest is totally up to them. my point is that if MP is partying with other substances, (i don’t count pot as a substance personally), hopefully he will realize that people will put out every detail of his choices.
Ah, yes, it was the DARE program. I don’t know why I couldn’t think of what it was called (and no, I’m not high, lol).
BTW, I’m glad you realized that I was joking! After rereading my comment, I thought I sounded bitchier than I had intended to. Damn, I miss that “edit” feature!
i also dont feel like he has any responsibility to his ‘fans.’ his career isnt fan-based like a musician or an actor. he swims competitively, so his only base that he needs to worry about are the drug tests that allow him to compete drug-free. as soon as he starts messing that up (if he does, which i doubt he will) then there are consequences, for him and his career. but as far as being beholden to fans and having to act a certain way, im not buying it. his only real obligation is to himself, to not ruin his own career.
LOL! maybe you were high during the DARE program!! (j/k)
i’m glad you were kidding! i was just about to rip you a new one for that last comment, lookout!! (also kidding)
but the facts are true, only the vague details have been mentioned to protect the guilty!! (and that’s not me!)
Common and not that damning!?!? Then fight to get it decriminalized for godsakes. Because in most states, if your skin is the wrong color, or you live in a crowded area where everywhere is a “school-zone”, kids lives are being ruined over joints!! I know where I live I read of a hispanic kid getting a mandatory 3 years for a nickle bag. That same day I read of a “country” youth beating another so bad that the kid was/is paralized and that kid got probation. (oh and the beating was over a drug debt…I know because I was so outraged that I wrote a letter to the paper expressing such, and they clued me in.)
I’m just saying, if everyone feels herb is just an herb, well the time has come for everyone to not think it’s not that important, because it is. First hand knowledge, herb TRUMPS sexual abuse in our court system. Think about that. I’ll say it again, marijuana trumps sexual abuse in our country’s court system.
Phelps should of pulled a willie nelson and said I did it, I inhaled and I’ll probably do it again, rather then this bs.
ugh this whole thing is dumb. this is why he SHOULDN’T have apologized:
http://campusprogress.org/opinions/3589/dont-apologize-michael
i cant believe how crasy some people are getting about this. HE SMOKES POT! big deal…
hes just a kid whos good at swimming. he never asked to be everyone’s role model. he doesnt owe anyone anything. let him have his fun.
it sucks that someone took that picture of him though…bad move.
edit- that should be “crazy” with a Z…i cant type.
My only thought is how smoking anything, but especially pot, diminishes your lung capacity and wow, he might have won 10 gold medals if he hadn’t been toking!
Silly to be upset or to think he is diminished by this. Pot needs to be legal anyway.
Making a situation out of a young man smoking bud at a party is beyond ridiculous. Especially when that young man worked his ass off and won 8 gold medals. If anything this should point out how absolutely ridiculous Americas “war on drugs” is. Pot specifically. I will never understand how alcohol is legal yet weed is not. What’s wrong with being happy, hungry, and sleepy? It’s not as if he was out driving immediately after smoking, and I bet he didn’t try to force the smoke on anyone else, let alone try to rape some random chick because he was “to drunk to make rational decisions”. Ugh. Anywho…
“Now kids, don’t smoke weed or you might end up like Michael Phelps.”
Yeah. Doesn’t sound very convincing to me either.
To be a spokesperson, don’t you actually have to speak? I’ve only seen a couple of Phelps’ ads since the Olympics and I can’t recall him stringing together enough words to form a sentence.
bros……..You may think I am on my “high horse”…hardly. I truly believe he has a responsibility to his advertisers and YES to the many young children/adults who look up to him as a role model. I think it was totally irresponsible of him to allow himself to be photographed smoking that stuff. I don’t care what he does to himself and/or his career. However, he projected to the general public (including impressionable children) a wholesome, clean, athletic image (to gain personal wealth and fame) and he is a damn phony. This world has enough problems without having to see his sorry face on a newspaper cover smoking an illegal substance. And, by the way, I don’t give a hoot if they legalize the crap. Again, I’m not on a high horse. Just looking at the all American image he wanted to project to make all that endorsement money. I hope he gets canned.
haha dingles. thats awesome.
PARENTS should be the ROLE MODELS of their children, not athletes, actors, or music artists. I’m glad he’s taking some down time and being NORMAL for a change. Good Grief, give the guy a break. Matter of fact, Michael if you want to share, come on over, I already have the booze.
This is EXACTLY what he should have said:
http://reason.com/news/show/131438.html
LOVES IT!
Watching many a Michael Phelps interview during Phelps mania last summer, he always came off as a charicature: Slack jawed dumb jock barely able to string 2 words together.
The kind of Dumb jock who would get arrested for DUI when he has a golden no wait a platinum highway of money in front of him, the dumb jock that WOULD get caught smoking pot or “experimenting” with other things when he now has a diamond incrusted platinum highway.
Now the “dumb” bit has nothing to do with whether people should get all up in arms about pot and such.
The “dumb” is because corporate America is paying him gazillions for his image. If he looses that then what was the point of spending those tens of thousands of hours in a pool? Want to end up like Tonya Harding?
And for goodness’ sake, if he’s going to do that DONT apologize afterwards. It’s ridiculous! Man up!
idiot
God, all of this over some weed? Damn! It’s not crack, ffs!
excuse my spelling
Years of bad bud karma to the jerk that finked him out. He totally harshed my buzz just now.
I’d totally burn one with Phelps – he’d have to throw down some after the third or forth one, though. I can’t afford to smoke up a pair of Olympian lungs.
A bong hit and it was only one, who gives a sh*t ? Amen to KC454
Let me guess…the ones who are getting their knickers in a twist over this are the same ones who also voted for the Cokehead.
I’m sure everyone that said “whatever” would be thrilled when their 9, 10, 11, or 12 year old kid comes to them and says, “Look Mommy/Daddy, I’m exactly like Michael Phelps” before they take a whiff out of a pot pipe. *rolls eyes*
The corporate sponsors and the swimming federations blew it. They could have taken a stand and made a lesson out of Phelps. This is the same guy that could have killed someone when he was DUI at the tender age of 19 (underage to boot). Drinking and doing drugs. Yeah, way to go Phelps. No matter how you look at it, he’s a role model for hundreds of thousands of children. He set up that swimming program for inner youth kids. What a nice picture they saw (thanks to news media) they saw of their hero drunk and smoking pot. Phelps needs to smarten up and grow up. He’s 23, not 16.
Gah. Get over it already. Phelps is an Olympic champion no matter what else he ever does his entire life. He’s not required to meet anyone’s standards of excellency – he already did that.
Swimming is one of the lonliest sports to practice. There’s no talking, no eye contact, no physical contact with another human, nothing but the swimmer and water. Like someone else said, he didn’t get to 8 gold medals because of his fan base voting for him or by appealing to the majority of people along the way. He got them by pure physical strength, endurance, and years of practice. He owes us nothing.
Ya know.. If they publisized EVERYONE who smokes weed, That’s all we would hear about. Give it a rest…. It’s just POT!!!!
For real tho.. You NEVER take those kind of pictures.. It’ll catch up to ya!!!
Oh, and Mr. Phelps, If you’re reading this.. Keep on keepin’ on.
the British tabloid who found that Phelps photo could care less about whether or not it’s wrong that he smoked pot (a year ago)… they’re just shooting for ratings, and unfortunately it worked