14 DAY TRIAL // It’s been a very silent three months for golfer Tiger Woods, but he’s finally broken the silence with Friday’s public apology, an event that was broadcast live all over the planet and will probably continue to generate media for much longer from now on. In his statement, Woods pled with the tabloid media and the paparazzi in particular to leave his family alone – a plea paps refuse to comply with, as TMZ informs.
In his statement, Woods said that he understood perfectly why his wrongdoings would put his family in the hotspot, but urged the media to show some common sense and stick with covering only him. Having his minor children followed to school, his mother and wife harassed by paparazzi and asked inappropriate questions in the street is something that should not happen, and certainly something he will not condone. The paparazzi, on the other hand, don’t quite see things as he does.
“We just called multiple paparazzi agencies who have camera people on the ground in Orlando, and they are all of the same mind, in spite of what Tiger Woods said: They will absolutely continue photographing Elin Nordegren. One agency put it this way: ‘He dug his own grave. It became a huge story because of him.’ As for taking pics of the kids, the agencies all said the focus is Elin – although they say the prize shot is now Elin and Tiger together,” TMZ says, after placing a couple of calls with the biggest paparazzi agencies in town.
Of course, the decision to continue with their coverage of Woods’ family, against his explicit desire, could also have something to do with him turning to Getty Images for the first photo of him in three months and moving to prevent them from getting it, as we were also telling you the other day. Woods’ first photo after rehab could have been worth as much as $1 million, but, by signing with Getty and staging a photo op, the golfer literally gave it for free and made it worthless.
“I have always tried to maintain a private space for my wife and children. They have been kept separate from my sponsors, my commercial endorsements. When my children were born, we only released photographs so that the paparazzi could not chase them. However, my behavior doesn’t make it right for the media to follow my two and a half year old daughter to school and report the school’s location. They staked out my wife and they pursued my mom. Whatever my wrongdoings, for the sake of my family, please leave my wife and kids alone,” were Woods’ exact words when pleading with the media for the privacy of his family.