Although I have not been keeping up on the minute-by-minute updates, Tiger finally got some good legal advice and provided the police with his driver's license, registration and proof of insurance as required by Florida law, but would not discuss the incident with the police. The police are now attempting to obtain a search warrant for Tiger's medical records to determine whether the facial lacerations are consistent with an automobile accident or domestic abuse. Even if there is some basis to the allegations of domestic abuse, Tiger and Elin have spousal privilege, meaning that neither can be forced to testify against the other. Don't the police in Windermere, Florida have anything better to do with their time than pursue this case? While celebrities sometimes are given a free ride by the police, other times they are treated more harshly than John Q. Public because of the publicity that can make a detective's or prosecutor's career or simply as a high-profile example.
Tiger has already announced that he will not be participating this week in the the Chevron World Challenge that benefits the Tiger Woods Foundation and that he will not return to the PGA Tour until February 2010. No big surprise there!
Tiger stands to lose a lot of money with respect to his current sponsorship agreements (not to mention future sponsorship opportunities). Most sponsorship agreements include a "morals clause" that permits the sponsor to terminate the agreement if the celebrity commits a felony or an act of moral turpitude that the sponsor believes will negatively impact its brand or the value of the celebrity as a spokesperson. An extra-marital affair may or may not rise to that level. Even if the sponsor does not want to terminate the sponsorship agreement it may have no choice if it believes that acting otherwise would be seen as condoning Tiger's extra-marital affair, if true.
Kobe Bryant set the bar a few years ago for adultery/rape when he apologized to his wife with a 4-carat diamond ring. What Christmas present do you think Tiger will be giving his wife this year? Kobe Bryant has done a remarkable job of rehabilitating his reputation after his problems in Colorado. What is so remarkable about Kobe is that he was not well-liked by the public before the incident and somehow he is now loved! Kobe quickly and publicly accepted blame for his transgressions (although he continues to claim that the sex was consensual), asked his wife and the public for forgiveness and has been a model husband and citizen ever since (as far as we know).
The lesson is so clear. From the beginning of time (or at least since Richard Nixon, Watergate and Deep Throat), the cover-up is generally worse than the crime! The quicker that Tiger can put this incident behind him and move on the better for him, his wife and children and the PGA Tour. If he had an extra-marital affair with Rachel Uchitel, admit it, give Elin the very large diamond, show contrition, ask the public and media for privacy to heal the marital wounds and move on. The longer this media circus continues, the worse it will become for Tiger Woods and his family and his cherished privacy.
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