Olympic Gold Medalist Shaun White Apologizes for His 'Gossip' Remarks
American snowboarder Shaun White has expressed his regrets for his past actions and behavior after he was questioned about the sexual harassment allegations he was faced with back in 2016.
Shaun White had just won gold at the ongoing 2018 Winter Olympic Games held at Pyeongchang, South Korea, but rather than celebrating, the snowboarder is now apologizing. Following his Olympic-gold win, the 31-year-old was immediately asked a question about the lawsuit filed against him by his former bandmate, Lena Zaiwadeh, who claimed to have experienced sexual harassment at the hands of the Olympian back in 2016. Dismissing the question, White says he was there "to talk about the Olympics, not gossip."
White quickly faced backlash from his use of the word "gossip" which ultimately ended up with the snowboarder appearing on NBC to apologize for his poor choice of words. Not only that, White also shared how he has grown over the years.
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"I'm truly sorry that I used the word 'gossip,'" he said. "It was a poor choice of words to describe such a sensitive subject in the world today," the Olympian added.
"I've grown as a person over the years," he went on to say, further stating, "Every experience in my life, I feel like it's taught me a lesson. And I definitely feel like I am a much more changed person than I was when I was younger."
The lawsuit filed against White had been settled back in May 2017 for an undisclosed amount. But upon White's controversial remark, Zaiwadeh's lawyer revealed that while his client believes that what had happened between her and White was all in the past, his poor choice of words had resulted in the minimizing of the problem of sexual harassment.
According to the lawyer, who says White had impugned his client's character with his recent remarks, no woman would want to be labeled a liar or a gossip by their harassers.
