NEWBURYPORT — Tiger Woods' formal apology yesterday met with some criticism and sober advice from locals involved in various fields that his public relations fiasco touched on.
Woods gave a televised apology for his "irresponsible and selfish" behavior, which included infidelity.
"I know I have bitterly disappointed all of you," Woods said as he stood before a small crowd including his mother. "For all that I have done, I am so sorry. ... I had affairs, I cheated. What I did was not acceptable, and I am the only person to blame."
The 15-minute appearance was his first public statement since his November car crash outside his home near Orlando, Florida. The crash was just the beginning of what would become a torrent of bad news for the professional golfer, who has said he is taking an indefinite break from his career. Woods, who has been undergoing sex addict therapy, has been linked to several women and has lost key endorsements from products that no longer want to be associated with the philandering golfer.
Plum Island resident Lois Smith, a retired publicist to major stars such as Robert Redford, said Woods' advisers should have never allowed his foibles to go this far. She noted while stars she represented did get in trouble from time to time, she never experienced anything on the scale of Woods' infidelity.
"If I had any influence, I wouldn't have allowed it to get this far," Smith said. "The friends he surrounded himself with were enablers, and I would have gotten rid of them a long time ago."
Smith said it's important for the people representing a star to act in the star's best interest and not lead them down a path that will eventually end in a public relations nightmare.
"You have to have a strong relationship with your client and tell them the truth," Smith said. "He should have never gotten in as deeply as he did. I would have called him in and said he's going down the wrong path and to stop the behavior."
Smith said his celebrity and multimillionaire status led to people helping him make an ideal life rather than do what was right.
"They just wanted to do what he wanted to make his life perfect for him," Smith said.
Skye Wentworth of Skye Wentworth Public Relations said she doesn't fault Woods for waiting to make an announcement until yesterday.
"Now was the time," Wentworth said. "After having therapy, it was time to address people because he has such a great influence of fans and children."
Wentworth believes with his public apology done, he can transcend the negative press and work toward repairing his relationship with his wife and children.
"He talked about how he was raised Buddhist, and we all have to have compassion for him," Wentworth said. "Now his private life can really be private."
On the other side of the spectrum, local hair stylist and new author Richard Nocera of "Women Own All the Vaginas," said he doesn't fault Woods for following his biological impulses.
In Nocera's new book, he delves into the questions of monogamy and urges women and men to open dialogue in their relationships and not take sexual affairs, pornography and adult entertainment personally.
"I hope he's conscious of what he's doing," Nocera said. "There is no question he's highly disciplined and he can deny himself. But he can't change his sexual chemistry, so it won't last."
Nocera likens sex to heroin, saying any health human being is a sex addict to some degree. But Nocera doesn't buy into the theory Woods is a sex addict.
"He can discipline himself to say no to his body, but no amount of sex therapy can change his DNA."
Nocera says a dialogue about monogamy is needed now more than ever with Woods being just one of recent celebrities and politicians to go through the ringer for their infidelities.
"These people are just demonized for having affairs," Nocera said. "Men don't choose to be this way; they are given a biological imperative to spread their seeds, and men need to stop being ashamed about it."
As far as what the future holds for Woods, Smith said eventually the scandal will be forgotten.
"People aren't unjust; they will give him a chance," Smith said. "They need to get him back on the golf course and hope his private life works ou,t but it's all up to him now."
Wentworth agreed, the sooner the better for Woods.
"He needs to get out there and do what he does best," Wentworth said. "He needs to just go out and do it."
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