Source: Ian MacNicol / Getty
Following Shaun White’s gold medal win in Pyeongchang on Tuesday, a news conference turned a little testy when a reporter brought up White’s settlement of a 2016 sexual harassment lawsuit brought by his former Bad Things bandmate, Lena Zawaideh. In response to whether these resurfaced allegations would “tarnish your legacy,” White brushed away the question: “I’m here to talk about the Olympics, not gossip and stuff.” He continued, “[So] I don’t think so — I am who I am and I’m proud of who I am and my friends love me and vouch for me and I think that stands on its own.”
The reporter attempted to press further on White’s use of the word “gossip” and whether he truly thought it applied to the allegations against him (Zawaideh accused him of, among other things, texting “sexually explicit and graphic images” to her and “repeatedly sexually harass[ing] her” over the course of seven years). The moderator backed up White by saying, “I think we’re here to talk about the gold medal,” but it was too late to erase the “gossip” utterance, which was guaranteed to spark a reaction, and it did.
READ MORE: Uproxx.com
Article Courtesy of Uproxx
First Picture Courtesy of Quinn Rooney and Getty Images
Second Picture Courtesy of Ian MacNicol and Getty Images
Olympic Gold Medalist Shaun White on His Use of the Word “Gossip” in Response to Sexual Assault Allegations was originally published on wzakcleveland.com
