Yesterday, an interview with Serena Williams revealed that the tennis great defended the Steubenville rapists and blamed the victim for her poor judgment, going so far as to bring up her virginity. Today, feeling the backlash, she's backpedaling. But what she's saying isn't even the requisite non-apology apology -- you know, where you say you're sorry "if anyone was offended," but not admitting you were wrong. Instead, it sounds more like a flat-out lie. I hope the RS reporter releases tapes of the interview.
The Daily News reports:
Tarnished tennis star Serena Williams claimed Wednesday that a Rolling Stone reporter put the hateful words about the Steubenville, Ohio, rape victim into her mouth. “What was written — what I supposedly said — is insensitive and hurtful,” Williams said in a statement posted on her website. “I by no means would say or insinuate that she was at all to blame.”
Williams said she is now “reaching out to the girl’s family to let her know that I am deeply sorry for what was written in the Rolling Stone article.” The top-ranked female tennis player in the world was forced to do damage control after she was quoted saying the 16-year-old “shouldn’t have put herself in that position” in excerpts from an upcoming article by Stephen Rodrick that were published by Deadspin. Williams, on her site, insisted, “what happened in Steubenville was a real shock for me.” “I was deeply saddened,” she wrote. “For someone to be raped, and at only sixteen, is such a horrible tragedy! For both families involved – that of the rape victim and of the accused.”Sure, Serena. And you also didn't actually threaten to shove a ball down a lineswoman's throat or tell an umpire that if she "sees you coming in the hallway, walk the other way."
Read HERE.
UPDATE: Click HERE for an excellent letter from a prosecutor in Northern California who thinks this could become a teachable moment for both Serena and the country.