Shaun White just won his third career gold medal at the Pyeongchang Olympics, and while the press has definitely been celebrating his win, he’s also come under fire for two reasons:Â dragging an American flag while he was snowboarding, and settling a sexual harassment suit.
Back in 2016, White was sued for sexual harassment as part of a larger civil suit. The drummer for his band Bad Things, Lena Zawaideh, filed a civil suit against White for wrongful termination, unpaid wages, and sexual harassment. She alleged that White had forced her to watch pornography, made lewd comments about her relationship with her boyfriend, and texted “sexually explicit and graphic images” to her, including images of erect penises. Then, after he fired her, she alleges that he refused to pay her wages.
Her complaint further alleged that, after White failed to win a medal at the Sochi Olympics, he “became increasingly hostile and threatening, especially toward Zawaideh. For example, on a few occasions when the band was practicing, White gestured that he was going to backhand Zawaideh. He yelled out uncalled for remarks such as, ‘’ll f-ing slap you.’ Zawaideh was fearful that White would hit her due to his irrational behavior at the time.” The lawsuit also alleges that he “stuck his hands down his pants, then shoved them in her face to smell them.”
White and Zawaideh settled for an undisclosed amount in mid-2017. According to Yahoo! Sports, White has admitted to sending the texts but denies the other allegations.
During his Pyeongchang gold medal press conference, White was finally asked about the allegations, and his response was incredibly dismissive. When one of the reporters asked if he worried that the allegations might tarnish his legacy, he said, “I’m here to talk about the Olympics, not gossip and stuff. I don’t think so … I’m proud of who I am. My friends, you know, love me and vouch for me. I believe that stands for itself.”
White has since apologized for his response on the TODAY Show. “I’m truly sorry that I chose the word ‘gossip’,” he said. “It was a poor choice of words to describe such a sensitive subject in the world today. I was so overwhelmed with just wanting to talk about how amazing today was and share my experience.”
“It’s amazing … how life works, with twists and turns and lessons learned,” White said. “So every experience in my life, I feel like it’s taught me a lesson, and I definitely feel like I’m a much more changed person than I was when I was younger. And yeah, I’m just proud of who I am today.”
This was obviously not a great response. It is, of course, entirely possible that he has learned to control his anger and behave appropriately with his employees since the allegations; I would like to believe people can change. However, this apology emphasized White’s own feelings, and he only apologized for his choice of words at the press conference rather than the substance of the allegations.
“I’m truly sorry that I chose the word gossip. It was a poor choice of words to describe such a sensitive subject in the world today.” @shaunwhite on his remarks at news conference when asked about harassment case pic.twitter.com/5q9jyCL61m
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) February 14, 2018
Of course, conservative Twitter found something apparently far more pressing to be angry about. After his win, White could be seen accidentally stepping on the U.S. flag he was handed. Plenty of users took him to task for “disrespecting” the flag, and instead of dismissing these comments as “gossip,” White publicly apologized. “I remember being handed the flag but I was trying to put my gloves on and hold the flag and get board,” he said. “Honestly, if there was anything, I definitely didn’t mean any disrespect … So sorry for that. But I’m definitely proud — very proud — to be a part of Team USA and being an American and to be representing for everyone back home.”
Allegedly sexually harass a woman? Sorry for the way I talked about it. I was just so excited because I’m a great athlete and great person now! Step on a flag? OMG I did not mean any disrespect to that inanimate object. So sorry.Â
Priorities.
(via USA Today and ESPN; image: Andreas Rentz/Getty Images)
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