Michael Phelps, the Tiger Woods of competitive swimming, made headlines for non-swimming related reasons again last week when he was arrested for DUI (and speeding) in Baltimore. This is Phelps' second DUI in ten years. Phelps apologized for driving drunk and for setting a bad example. Now he is reportedly taking a break from swimming and going to rehab for six weeks. This of course isn't Phelps' first brush with public controversy: remember in 2009 when he got caught using a bong at a party in South Carolina? That photo cost him some serious endorsement money, but didn't stop him from kicking everyone's butt in the 2012 Olympics.
Credit Phelps for using all the right moves to mitigate the story's impact in the press. He apologized, promised to get help, and announced his intention to clean up his act. All the usual stuff. As CBS News reported, the 29-year old multiple Olympic gold medalist mentioned in a statement that he is entering a program that will help him get his life straight.
Gee Whiz.
Don't get me wrong. DUI is a serious offense and it showed poor judgment. Driving impaired is extremely dangerous. But there are football players with more than two DUI's in the previous calendar year. Phelps has had two in ten years.
Unless there is more to the story than what has been revealed so far, it seems a tad excessive to check into rehab for DUI.
But it's almost as if we expect celebrities and athletes to go to exaggerated lengths to be absolved from their (sometimes) mundane crimes. Normal people get DUI's and they should be punished. But they shouldn't be publicly shamed and be forced to take time off from their jobs and be made to apologize to society.
Christopher Cheswick wrote a letter to the Baltimore Sun asking why the onus doesn't lie with establishments which over serve their patrons.
Michael Phelps may find some value in entering into a program, but there is something insidious about making celebrities' behavior seem different from that of "common" people. It only reinforces harmful stereotypes.
What do you think?
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