We have three celebrities paying the price for choices they have made.
The interests of all three would be better served if they took responsibility and apologized. All three have decided that the costs of apology are too high. All three will learn that while apology is not free, in the long run it is substiuntially less costly thanthe alterntives.
Tiger Woods
Tiger Woods has carefully fashioned his brand as a squeaky-clean athlete to become the most compensated figure in this history of sports. That brand is being dismantled before our eyes. Woods desires privacy beut he fails to acknowlege that he is accountable to the public, the source of all that wealth and privilege, just as much as his family and friends. His failure to acknowledge this truth will lead to a sream of media revelations that he cannot control and must react to.
The first symptom of hiding: one's world is diminished. TIger Woods has announced he will not participate in a charity golfing event hat bears his name.
Tiger's goal of getting the media attention behind him would be better served if he took charge of the revellations. Say it first, say it straight, say it all.
Adam Lambert
The American idol star went overboard at the American Music Awards with a sexually-charged peformance that simulated oral copulation. The performance was instantly criticized. But instead of being contrite, Lambert tried to jusitfy, explain, and otherwise spin the behavaior. He rejected calls to apologize.
Lambert failed to realize one of the main attributes of apology. When someone apologizes, it reinforces confidence that they really do honor the shared values of the community, despite having violated them. For the ABC network, such a step was key to the network's sense that Lambert can be trusted to appear on live TV. Lambert refused to give them that confidence. As a result, Lambert has been disinvited from appeaing on Good Morning, America as well as at leats two other shows.
Roman Polanski
In 1977, the director Roman Polanski was accused of having sex with a 13 year-old girl. It was likely he would face a very light sentence. But instead of accepting the consequences for his behavior, Polanski fled the country and lived in Europe for more than 30 years.
He may have thought he "got away with it." But I think his life has been miserable. He couldn't travel or work int he U.S. He was always looking over his shoulder. And in the end, he was arrested by Swiss authorities on September 27 2009 and has been in prison ever since. It's possible his Swiss prison time will be longer than the time he sould have served in the U.S. and his ordeal is not over.
If he is extradited ot the U.S., which appears likely, he will face the same charges, but this time in an environment which treats statutory rape much, much hrasher than the judicial system did in 1977.
It's easy to argue against apologizing because of the imemdiate costs. It's harder to consider the eventual costs that come with not apologizing. But the eventual costs are almost always more.
Polanski, 76, must stay in the house and wear an electronic bracelet as officials decide whether to extradite him to the U.S. for having sex in 1977 with a 13-year-old girl.
Polanski has been in Swiss custody since his arrest Sept. 26 on a U.S. warrant as he arrived in Zurich to receive a lifetime achievement award. Authorities in Los Angeles want him returned to be sentenced after 31 years as a fugitive.
It was art. He was interpreting the lyrics. I loved it. He shouldn't apologize, he doesn't need to. In fact the poll taken by Access Hollywood showed 93% of voters said no, he shouldn't apologize. So stop beating a dead horse.
Polanski, 76, must stay in the house and wear an electronic bracelet as officials decide whether to extradite him to the U.S. for having sex in 1977 with a 13-year-old girl.
NICE SAYED