1 CommentBY 7.13 PM EST 11.29.2009

Tiger Woods, Your Squeaky Clean Image Is In Jeopardy!

112909_tigerwoods_spl117106_001

You’re well respected in the sports community and one of the highest-paid athletes, but that could all possibly change —because of the car crash and some nasty allegations you’ve been cheating on your wife.

“This raises a real concern about what it could do to his pristine image,” Michael Levine, media expert and celeb publicist who has represented sports stars like Mike Tyson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, tells us.

“Whether or not [the reports of infidelity] are true, we live in a society where a question or rumor that goes unanswered for 24 hours automatically becomes true in some people’s mind,” says Levine. “This could be devastating [for his career].”

For the record, the alleged other woman, Rachel Uchitel, said she didn’t have an affair with the golf pro. And though he doesn’t specifically address the alleged cheating, Tiger said the “malicious rumors that are currently circulating about my family and me are irresponsible.”

So what’s a star like Tiger to do in a sticky situation like this? Go into crisis control.

“Most important is that you need to get to the truth and if the truth is on your side you need to expose it,” explains Levine. “If you’re arrogant, slow and blame others, people will hold onto that and not forgive you.”

Aside from fans, Tiger’s also got millions of dollars on the line.

Lucrative deals with Nike, Buick, Gillette and Tag Heuer “absolutely could be” in trouble, Levine explains. “Companies who hire you to get behind a product don’t want or look for controversy.”

We’ll have to wait and see how everything unfolds but looks like Tiger might have some more explaining to do to his wife, endorsers and the public!

Eunice Oh

Related stories on HollywoodLife.com

  • Pregnant Rachel Uchitel Reads Jenny McCarthy’s Baby Book

    Pregnant Rachel Uchitel Reads Jenny McCarthy’s Baby Book
    read more >>

  • Pregnant Rachel Uchitel’s Pricey Baby Registry — Is It Too Much?

    Pregnant Rachel Uchitel’s Pricey Baby Registry — Is It …
    read more >>

  • Rachel Uchitel: ‘I Couldn’t Be Happier To Be Pregnant!’

    Rachel Uchitel: ‘I Couldn’t Be Happier To Be …
    read more >>

  • Will Tiger Woods’ Ex-Mistress Rachel Uchitel Finally Do A Tell-All TV Interview?

    Will Tiger Woods’ Ex-Mistress Rachel Uchitel Finally Do A …
    read more >>

Leave a Reply

To comment, please fill in the fields below, enter your comment and select the Comment button.

View Comment

lindsey

Posted at 9:28 AM on November 30, 2009  

That is the problem with celebrity branding..you can’t control their image. If something goes wrong, it can def misrep your brand!

Share this comment at Share with Twitter