Don’t Apologize, Michael!
Michael Phelps’ apology for smoking pot was a lot like his personality: lifeless and rote.
By Jesse Singal
February 2, 2009
Olympic champion and repentant pot smoker Michael Phelps at a press conference last week. (AP Photo/Hassan Ammar)After the British tabloid News of the World published a photo of record-breaking Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps smoking a marijuana pipe, Phelps maneuvered the subsequent apology circuit as deftly as he does the 400 meter individual medley.
“I engaged in behavior which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment,” he said in a statement released on Sunday. “I’m 23 years old, and despite the successes I have had in the pool, I acted in a youthful and inappropriate way, not in a manner that people have come to expect from me. For this, I am sorry. I promise my fans and the public—it will not happen again.”
I for one am absolutely appalled at Phelps’ behavior. He has set a terrible example for his young fans everywhere, one that could, in the long run, lead to ruined lives and squandered promise. By apologizing for smoking pot, Phelps did two things: He became the umpteenth athlete to legitimize our country’s bizarre, destructive war on pot, and he confirmed his status as one of the tooliest superstar athletes in recent memory.
Let’s face it: Phelps is pretty dislikable. Yes, he is an insanely gifted physical specimen, someone who, clichés and hyperbole notwithstanding, really does push the limits of what human beings are capable of. But he also lacks any personality or charisma whatsoever. You rarely come away from watching an interview with him saying—to borrow an unfortunate phrase from the political world—“Wow, I’d really like to have a beer with that kid.”
There’s a definite spectrum when it comes to superstar athletes and their personalities. Some sports stars are just great; others are great and become known not just for their athletic exploits, but for their outsized personalities. Charles Barkley is probably the paradigmatic example of the latter. Yes, he’s a hall-of-fame former professional basketball player, but he’s also a must-watch commentator because he has strong opinions and no compunctions about voicing them. Other athletes, though, are sterile, lifeless. The sense of joy that should permeate athletic greatness doesn’t shine through when they’re not competing. LeBron James is an example. Despite the advertising dollars and the branding efforts—“King James,” etcetera—James simply doesn’t come off as a naturally interesting, dynamic person. Nor does Phelps.
If Phelps wanted to rebuild a personality that has apparently been scrubbed away by too much chlorine, this would have been an excellent place to start. He could have called a press conference yesterday and said, “Look, I smoke weed sometimes. Who cares? It obviously hasn’t affected my performance or ruined my life like so many folks claim. I’m not going to apologize for an activity I—and many of my peers—enjoy, and which is safe when done in moderation.”
Instead, Phelps offered up an apology (posted on his Facebook page) that gets even more painful to read when it is closely parsed: “despite [his] successes” he smoked weed, acting in a “youthful” way. Right, because only unsuccessful, young people smoke weed. Everything about his statement is dishonest, unless you’re willing to believe that Phelps actually thinks smoking weed is “inappropriate” and is prepared to never do it again.
Phelps’ apology makes him come off as a complete stooge, as someone whose moral values stem entirely from his own value as a marketing asset. And the sniveling obsequiousness he displays has a price. Despite the fact that there are now several organizations dedicated to reforming marijuana laws in the United States, and despite some successes on the state level, our drug discourse still lags far behind reality. The inarguable fact that tens of millions of perfectly successful people use marijuana recreationally has yet to penetrate our shrilly hysterical anti-drug id and the thick crust of paranoia that surrounds it. Countless lives are ruined because of our inability to have an adult conversation about marijuana.
There are plenty of reasons for this—racism, the financial profitability of imprisoning millions on non-violent offenders, the political profitability of demonizing drug users—but another factor is the maddening degree to which high-profile athletes like Phelps immediately roll over when they are caught with a joint in their hands, sobbing apologies as they prostrate themselves before moral crusaders who have no idea what the hell they are talking about. Yesterday, Phelps showed that while he may have incredible physical gifts in the pool, there isn’t much more than meets the eye when it comes to who he is as a person.
Jesse Singal is an associate editor at Campus Progress.
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Comments
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Right on, Jesse. I’ve sent this article to all my friends. It deserves a world-wide circulation. Your sober, logical and cogent statement of the issues is persuasive and inarguable. Good job!
— douglas snow - Feb 2, 02:45 PM - #Right on, Jesse. I’ve sent this article to all my friends. It deserves a world-wide circulation. Your sober, logical and cogent statement of the issues is persuasive and inarguable. Good job!
— douglas snow - Feb 2, 02:45 PM - #Phelps Stars in Pot Ad!
stash.norml.org/imag…
LOL!
— Lane - Feb 2, 05:11 PM - #Well said! I’m so glad someone is airing this take on the scandal.
— Emily - Feb 2, 05:16 PM - #Amen. Except I disagree with you about James who has appeared on the cover of GQ and Vogue already—and he’s only 24! Something neither Barkley nor Phelps have or will do.
There is a reason for that—James has something, that isn’t just his talent, that neither Barkley or Phelps have and I suspect it might have to do with his personality. There is still room for personality between douchebag and controversial.
Other than that, Im glad to see this article.
— Saxon - Feb 2, 06:42 PM - #He apologized with hopes of not losing a spot int he 2012 olympics- which he deserves (whether or not he smokes pot on occasion). He’s a role model and I think it was noble of him to address the issue publicly.
— Morgan - Feb 2, 06:46 PM - #If Michael Phelps is into smoking pipes then good for him. Just because he enjoys smoking a water pipe does not mean he should have to lie about it and talk about the “big mistake” he made. The government makes a mistake every time it enforces marijuana prohibition at the expense of America and good since. America should grow up and quit attacking its own citizens for how they decide to spend their recreational time.
— SunflowerPipes - Feb 2, 08:25 PM - #Sunflower Pipes
Phelps didn’t do anything that 80 percent of Americans have admitted to doing at least once in their lives. I think marijuana should be legalized and I’m glad, Jesse, that you mentioned our country’s ridiculous, wasteful and downright illogical “war on drugs” and how it is largely about racism.
— Lauren Yingling - Feb 2, 11:32 PM - #Phelps worked harder than anyone else, trained harder than anyone else and accomplished feats that no other athelete has ever come close to achieving. I agree that as a role model he
f@#&ed big time and for that an apology is appropriate. But overall, he isn’t a bad person and this little incident shouldn’t take away from all that he has accomplished.
You can’t expect celebrities to help us much in changing the laws. It beats me why the $20M+ he has already earned isn’t enough for him to start acting like his own man, but hey this is America; more money is always needed.
Maybe we should all send pictures of ourselves doing bongs to Sheriff Lott and tell him to come and get us. Sort of like the shoes being sent to the Bush Library, it would be a nice act of defiance to immoral laws.
I consider Mike just another victim of stupid laws, a victim who can afford it better then most of us.
— Glen G - Feb 3, 10:04 AM - #pass the bong kid, pass the bong.
— David Goodner - Feb 3, 02:56 PM - #If he can take rips from a bong like that and still has the wind power to win 8 gold medals, then kudos. Weed might count as a performance enhancing drug in Michael Stipe’s line of work, but certainly not Michael Phelps.
— Ebenezer Scrooge - Feb 4, 01:37 AM - #If he can take rips from a bong like that and still have the wind power to win 8 gold medals, then kudos. Weed might count as a performance enhancing drug in Michael Stipe’s line of work, but certainly not Michael Phelps.
— Ebenezer Scrooge - Feb 4, 01:38 AM - #i wonder if someone sold the photo to that British tabloid…
— coffee - Feb 4, 06:54 PM - #Gee, coffee .. ya think?
— teabag - Feb 5, 01:08 PM - #you do not think pot is “immature”? i am highly critical of the liberal war on the war on pot/drugs. what’s that about? shouldn’t we as liberals encourage more superstars to relent their pot smoking habits? whether he stops or not. i have a problem with people not taking apologies for face value all the time. just accept it, he apologized probably beacuse he wanted to… so what? i dont think he’s lame or doesnt have a personality because he apologized? ridic.
— illini dem - Feb 5, 05:46 PM - #“....But he also lacks any personality or charisma whatsoever….”
I’m shocked – progressives caught in the “Cult of Personality”! BTW, not only “...unsuccessful, young people smoke weed,” – alot of “grown up” slackers do, too. I’m certain there are successful, motivated people in “Weed World” – I just haven’t met any yet.
And about those “several organizations” hoping to “reform marijuana laws” – - it’s a progressive “scheme” to anesthetize nature’s fools.
— mighty aphrodite - Feb 5, 05:49 PM - #Had he not apologized as you suggest, and as a consequence become a poster boy for pot, he’d be kissing all his endorsements goodbye about now, along with mountains of cash dollars. He may be a dullard, but he’s no imbecile. I agree we need to advance the dialogue on marijuana, but come on. You can’t expect the guy to lay himself on the altar for a cause for which he obviously lacks passion.
— pj - Feb 5, 05:51 PM - #let me also add that i think the role of liberals should be morally progressive as well… and i understand that we put certain stereotypes on weed — that we assoc. it with poor/uneducated youth… of course you know as well as i do that our friends at harvard smoke too… despite this, it doesnt make it right.
— illini dem - Feb 5, 05:52 PM - #Singal you have failed to point that if you smoke pot you won’t amount to anything… well maybe President of the U.S., but that’s it. Seriously though you may be disappointed by his apology, but you shouldn’t be surprised. I’d do the same with $20M on the line for 2012 sponsorships. He’s not apologizing for genocide here. I’m just saying it’s a pretty rational (dollar$) thing for him to have done.
It’s not surprising that all his sponsors still stand by him, because they know some athlete/celebrity smoking pot is not going to shock anyone or lower their market share, but if he didn’t apologize their hands could be sadly forced to not sponsor him in the future.
— Jesse F - Feb 5, 05:53 PM - #Why write such hate on Michael Phelps? What’s the point? Yeah, he was stupid to do what he did, but we don’t have to go blast on his shortfalls for not being so eloquent or looking like an oaf at times.
Just because he doesn’t meet your standards of some glamorous celebrity athlete doesn’t mean we need to bash him like this.
You’re attacking his personality? Give me a break, write better stuff than this.
— Paul - Feb 5, 06:02 PM - #Too many people’s lives really have been destroyed (not Phelps’) by the war on drugs. I’m technically a baby-boomer and know lots of people who have smoked lots of pot. None overdosed or suffered permanent neuropsych damage. Marijuana should be decriminalized and the DEA focus on the drugs that have and will continue to destroy lives…crack, meth, heroine, alcohol…
— virge - Feb 5, 06:03 PM - #isn’t pot banned by the IOC? So, shouldn’t smoking it make Phelps a possible target for removal from the sport? I’d sure as heck be sorry if I did something that jeopardized my ability to participate in my lifelong dream and vocation. Sure, pot isn’t such a bad drug, but if Phelps’ actions can cost him his career, then no matter what they are stupid. The argument for pot legalization is important, but one shouldn’t have to lose their career over it and a college party is hardly the place to engage in a rational discussion. Jesse, you’re article sucks.
— brian - Feb 5, 06:13 PM - #Give me a break!!! I guess none of you were ever 23 and stupid! The only difference between him and you, is that pictures of him smoking pot, is worth some money!
— MoLouie - Feb 5, 06:35 PM - #Listen, I’m 50 years old,and feel that kids will be kids, No matter what their status. He’s still an amazing person. Yound, but amazing. Let him be.
— Kmfstr - Feb 5, 07:23 PM - #Listen, I’m 50 years old,and feel that kids will be kids, No matter what their status. He’s still and an amazing person. Young, but amazing. Let him be.
— Kmfstr - Feb 5, 07:26 PM - #While I may agree with you for the most part Jesse, I think there are several inaccuracies that should be pointed out.
1.“shrilly hysterical anti-drug id”— I think you meant superego.
2.“he financial profitability of imprisoning millions on non-violent offenses” — The prison system is drastically overcrowded and incredibly expensive. With roughly 60% of those in prison that burden is largely created by the war on drugs. I am not sure on what you are basing your statement that it is financially profitable to enforce marijuana laws.
you might want to check out the 2008 budget expenditures below.
www.usdoj.gov/jmd/20…
— Zmoney - Feb 5, 08:04 PM - #Journalism at its worst. A skewed view and utterly tasteless opinion on a topic that is so miniscule when compared to other worldy issues.
— G - Feb 5, 09:14 PM - #I’m so glad to see Campus Progress covering this! Keep it up!
— Irina Alexander - Feb 5, 10:02 PM - #Exactly my thoughts, Jesse, thanks for articulating them so well and backing it up with research.
As for the IOC, marijuana is considered an illegal substance and athletes will be disqualified if they are found positive for it before competing in the Olympics. This does not mean athletes are disqualified if they are found to have ever partaken of marijuana at any point in their lives. This is as it should be, otherwise it becomes a controversial issue of privacy.
— Emily - Feb 6, 11:07 AM - #and yet when the son of the Former PM of Ottawa who invented national healthcare…has his photo all over the press after he is photographed with his pants around his ankles drunk….he get’s more famous because he is Keifer Sutherland and oh yeah, booze is legal.
— JUSTECO - Feb 6, 07:03 PM - #Re: Zmoney’s comment: “ I am not sure on what you are basing your statement that it is financially profitable to enforce marijuana laws. “ The question is ‘profitable to whom?’ Of course it’s not ‘profitiable’ to taxpayers, but it is profitable for the contractors who build prisons and operate increasingly privatized prisons. In last November’s election, an initiative to reform prohibition sentencing, shifting away from prison toward cheaper and more effective treatment was defeated, largely due to massive campaign spending by the prison guards’ union. The prison- industrial complex means job security to a lot of parasites.
— G.P. Franck-Weiby - Feb 6, 07:10 PM - #If you don’t like smoking pot, then it’s a good thing you don’t.
— Jerimiah - Feb 7, 05:27 AM - #Excellent article. I had the same reaction after reading old Phelpsy’s pathetic response, which made it seem as though he was ready to join forces with the DEA. In his defense however, he was high at the time of issuing his statement.
Yay Cannabis!
— Hal - Feb 7, 02:56 PM - #I think this youngster who apologized his way out of a DUI in his Escalade((though he never did apologize for the Escalade) – has done the right thing. He has shown us how to get through the prejudice and and regulatory hoops that involve being a public figure, and dealing with closed-minded people.
— LongonAmerica - Feb 9, 09:48 AM - #Study closely his apology – is there anything that says he was sorry to have done the deed – no he apologized for being so youthful as to have been seen and photographed: ““I engaged in behavior which was regrettable and demonstrated bad judgment,” Phelps said in the statement released by one of his agents. “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.”
Youth all over are memorizing his tactful statement…
Now if he would only apologize for the Corn Flakes…
Seems to me that ur all gonna have to stand up and fight for more than just pot rights. I luv the US…but this right winged BS really makes you all look primitive. How is it that during the first Presidential press conference, in the midst of the worst recession in history, you still manage to fit in a question about A-Rod and substance abuse?
— canadasays - Feb 10, 02:35 PM - #Thank god i live in Canada.
BTW, the day 5 million pot smokers, gays, anti war/gun activists and progressives alike decide to march into wash. DC and do more than just blog…let me know, i’d like to be there. Until then, wining won’t do much. Will it?
You guys need to stand-up and stop taking the BS your gov and their blind supporters have been feeding you.
I thought America revolted against the oppression of the Brits…if your forefathers sat around blogging you’d all be eating bangers and mash today. Don’t ever forget that!