Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
Here’s a clip of Phelpsy doing his first major interview since Bong-gate — it’s a sit-down with Matt Lauer that’ll air later this morning on The Today Show.
“I had no idea really what to do,” Phelps said, referring to the moment when he learned that a photograph of him holding a bong surfaced in a British tabloid on Jan. 31.
“I knew that I’d made a mistake and made a bad judgment,” Phelps said. “And…I know that when you do make a mistake…you’re responsible for all of the consequences. And I was willing to, you know, accept the fact that I did make a mistake.” …
The 23-year-old athlete said that the hardest part of the ordeal was knowing he had hurt and disappointed, not only his fans, but the people closest to him, as well.
“The contract side of things, yeah, I was disappointed. But, you know, I think the biggest thing is who I hurt the most. Like, if I lost money, OK. It’s not an issue with me.”
Kellogg, which dropped Phelps last month, reasoning that the swim champ’s behavior was “not consistent with the image of Kellogg,” recently donated thousands of boxes of cereal boasting Phelps’ picture to a San Francisco food bank.
As for the night he unwittingly posed for the infamous bong pic, Phelps says he knew most of the guests at the party and there were only six or seven people there altogether.
“It was just a small group and we were just sitting around and celebrating,” he said.
“People think, you know, it’s funny at times” to take an impromptu cell phone picture, Phelps said. “I’ll say that there are a lot of people out there who want to take advantage of any situation they have…I trusted my friends who were there, who they were.
“And clearly they weren’t [trustworthy] people…Sometimes you learn the hard way.”
This short clip just has Phelpsy talking about how he’s gonna get his image back, and he talks about how he’s just going to get back into training, because “I can’t do anything wrong once I’m in the pool.” That’s so, so true, Mikey. In the pool, you’re wearing goggles, and most of that face of yours is distorted by the water anyway. We can, as a nation, focus on what we need to see, and the true glory that is Michael Phelps: your penis.
Seriously though I hate to keep harping on this, but why is this whole country trying to figure out how Michael Phelps is going to rehabilitate his image after losing alllll public trust by smoking a bong, yet no one wants to talk about how Chris Brown is quietly, rapidly and successfully rehabilitating his image after beating up his girlfriend? I AM GOING TO BE TALKING ABOUT IT, FOLKS. We won’t be forgetting around here, no sirree.
for the last paragraph, thank you beet. i love you.
YES. Go Beet!
Word, Beet.
Ditto. You are absolutely on the mark here! I worked at a shelter for battered women and it’s 100% true that if a man hits you once he’ll do it again.
Maybe Michael Phelps will learn to speak with uttering “you know” after every 5 – 10 words.
seriously this country is ridiculous. they need to legalize this shit already and stop focusing on petty shit. it kind of reminds me of the janet jackson “titty-gate” where everyone and their grandma freaked out because a nipple was exposed for all of 2 seconds. anyway, yes everything is messed up, we put so much attention to how horrible marijuana is (when it actually helps many people in chronic pain) and yet assholes (usher!) are apologizing for speaking out about how fucked up chris brown is!
RIGHT. I honestly don’t care that he did pot. Once. That’s pretty much equivalent to drinking, and I’m pretty sure ton of athletes and celebrities do that.
You’re right on, Beet!!!
Can ya quit calling him “Phelpsy?” It’s nauseating.
OK, fine. I didn’t think so.
More importantly, you are so right on about Chris Brown. Never let it go, Beet, NEVER. Everything you’re saying needs to be said. Shouted from the mountaintops. All that. Keep it up.
Phelps has lost his mind if he thinks he can hang out with 6 or 7 folks he thinks he can TRUST. Trust a group of people? That’s naive. He will continue learning the hard way that moving people from the acquaintance circle to friend to absolutely trustworthy is a much longer process. Of course getting high does not increase judgment. He’ll pay for this, pay more than he should, but it is a great example of poor decision making.
Chris Brown – this is guy should be ruined and completely finished. Someone thinks they can still count on him to make money therefore they want to act like (and make us think) it is no biggie. Society needs to make sure that EVERY SINGLE NAME of folks that try to minimize this assault and battery, and EVERY law enforcement official – cops to judges be published OFTEN and lets hold them accountable for what does and does not happen to this brute. Let’s shove it down their throats next time, because sadly there will one. This guy is well on way to attempted murder or murder charges, has no conscience, but neither do the greedy fucks trying to make money off of him.
As for Rhianna – I might even understand this better if she were
married, relying on him for income, or had kids, or SOMETHING. But here is an attractive, successful woman going back to a man with a loose wienie that also beats her! I still just dont get it.
When Phelps was arrested for drunk driving, how many endorsements did he lose? Any? And he was under age. He could have killed or injured himself or others. Is this somehow worse? At some point, grass will no doubt be legal, so this will be the equivalent of having an alcoholic drink.
Some distinction should be made between endangering lives (Chris Brown violently attacking a woman (or anyone), Phelps driving drunk, Charles Barkeley driving drunk, Morgan Freeman driving drunk, need I say more? and getting high in private with friends. One puts people at risk for their lives and the other doesn’t (unless you then do something violent or irresponsible, like drive). Where is the sense of proportion about what matters?
Thank God someone isn’t letting Chris Brown get away with this. Can we have like, weekly reminders of his and Hollywood’s idiocy?
Thank you, Beet! It’s so true. All Phelp’s did was smoking part of a freakin’ plant and the whole world is in an uproar. It’s disgusting and terrifying how few people have spoken out on the whole Chris Brown situation. Stay on it – this guy deserves to go down!
I cannot for the life of me figure out why Kellogg, whose stocks are in the toilet, would kill his endorsement. I have never eaten so many Froot Loops, Cap’n Crunch or Apple Jacks as when I was smoking weed. If I were them I would put a picture of him on the box surrounded by friggin bongs. Proof that 1) people who smoke dope can win gold medals and 2) people who eat high sugar food can remain buff.
HAHHAHAHA Chris that was the funniest comment ever!