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" The public apology has become an American celebrity crutch. If done well, a humble mea culpa may do some good\u2014or at least not stir up any more criticism. If done poorly, a personal plea for forgiveness can further stir a PR nightmare. Through their apologies, the 10 well-known figures below do their best to show us how not to patch things up in the face of public humiliation. Kanye West  &amp;quot;I immediately knew in the situation that it was wrong and it wasn&amp;#039;t a spectacle,&amp;quot; rapper Kanye West said of his decision to interrupt Taylor Swift&amp;#039;s award acceptance speech at the 2009 MTV Video Music Awards. He added, &amp;quot;It&amp;#039;s actually someone&amp;#039;s emotion that I stepped on\u2014it was rude, period. I&amp;#039;d like to be able to apologize to her in person.&amp;quot; This admission on The Jay Leno Show followed two not-in-person apology attempts on his website (one that ended with &amp;quot;Beyonce&amp;#039;s video was the best of this decade!!!&amp;quot;). Photo courtesy of YouTube.com.  Chris Brown  Five months after being accused of hitting then-girlfriend Rihanna in February 2009, pop star Chris Brown delivered a flawlessly scripted two-minute video apology, during which he called out his domestic violence\u2013riddled background and made multiple mentions of his mother, minister and God. &amp;quot;I have told Rihanna countless times\u2014and I am telling you today\u2014that I am truly, truly sorry that I wasn&amp;#039;t able to handle the situation both differently and better\u2026 No one is more disappointed in me than I am.&amp;quot; Unfortunately for Brown, a few awkward pauses or an &amp;quot;um&amp;quot; or &amp;quot;like&amp;quot; is what would&amp;#039;ve made the apology actually seem heartfelt. Photo courtesy of YouTube.com.  Tiger Woods  In a five-paragraph blog post on TigerWoods.com, which was drily titled &amp;quot;Tiger Comments on Current Events,&amp;quot; Woods gave his non-apology to the world following the revelation of his past infidelities. &amp;quot;Personal sins should not require press releases, and problems within a family shouldn&amp;#039;t have to mean public confessions,&amp;quot; he wrote. And aside from a few consoling words to his fans\u2014&amp;quot;For all of those who have supported me over the years, I offer my profound apology&amp;quot;\u2014Woods stuck to his guns. Photo by Retna.  Michael Vick  One would only have needed to hear the first 15 seconds of Michael Vick&amp;#039;s public apology in 2007 for his involvement in an illegal dog fighting ring to know that it would be criticized. &amp;quot;So, you know, I really don&amp;#039;t know, you know, how to say what I really want to say.&amp;quot; He may have intended this to soften the blow\u2014but then a third-person self-reference made the whole statement seem less sincere: &amp;quot;I need to work on bettering Michael Vick the person, not Michael Vick the football player.&amp;quot; Photo courtesy of YouTube.com.  Marion Jones  On the steps of the federal courthouse in 2007, track star Marion Jones\u2014who during the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney earned five medals\u2014admitted to lying to a federal investigator about using THG, a performance-stimulating drug: &amp;quot;Making these false statements to federal agents was an incredibly stupid thing for me to do, and I am responsible fully for my actions,&amp;quot; she said. Her delivery came off as rehearsed, chockful of carefully crafted statements, and was highly criticized for lacking the words that would right the wrong ideas given to young athletes about performance-enhancing drugs. Photo by Getty Images.  Justin Timberlake  The incident between Janet Jackson and Justin Timberlake at the MTV-produced halftime show for Super Bowl XXXVIII in 2004 marked the birth of the popular and unforgettable phrase &amp;quot;wardrobe malfunction.&amp;quot; &amp;quot;I am sorry that anyone was offended by the wardrobe malfunction during the halftime performance of the Super Bowl,&amp;quot; Timberlake said. Photo by Getty Images.  Jamie Foxx  In April 2009, on his SIRIUS radio show The Foxxhole, comedian Jamie Foxx doled out some choice advice for 16-year-old Miley Cyrus, including a suggestion that she undergo a gum transplant. On The Jay Leno Show a few days later, he offered an apology\u2014&amp;quot;And I so apologize to Miley, and this is sincere,&amp;quot; which he followed up with both his free slander pass as a working comedian (&amp;quot;I am a comedian, and you guys know that whatever I say, I don&amp;#039;t mean any of it.&amp;quot;) and a nationally televised in-full-detail plug for his radio show. Smooth. Photo courtesy of YouTube.com.  Joan Rivers  On a June 2008 episode of the British chat show Loose Women (similar to The View), Joan Rivers\u2014hoping to promote her live show, Joan Rivers: A Work in Progress by a Life in Progress\u2014responded to a question pertaining to the perils of celebrity interviewing. During which, she used a few choice words for Russell Crowe, one that started with an F. Though she prewarned the audio team\u2014&amp;quot;Get ready to bleep this!&amp;quot;\u2014she didn&amp;#039;t realize the show was live, and was asked to leave the set during the next commercial break. Her apology statement she released shortly after went something like this: &amp;quot;Yes, I swore, and I&amp;#039;m so f------ sorry.&amp;quot; Photo courtesy of Spike.com.  Alex Rodriguez  The blue-eyed baseball player had to know that reading his public apology in February 2009 from a few sheets of crumpled paper would summon criticism, especially when he started statements with such half-hearted admittances as, &amp;quot;On reflection, here&amp;#039;s what I can remember,&amp;quot; in reference to his alleged steroid use. His sincerity was made even more questionable by the fact that he had no choice but to confess since Sports Illustrated had just reported that A-Rod was one of 104 players who tested positive for steroids in 2003. Although he said he was sorry in interviews, he still attempted to make excuses for his behavior. For someone hoping to score a spot in the Baseball Hall of Fame, we think he could have tried a little harder. Photo courtesy of YouTube.com.  Mark Sanford  His public apology, issued at a June 24, 2009, press conference, was, however rambling, a sincere one\u2014complete with tears and an impossible-to-forge look of exhaustion\u2014but he should have stopped there. In a follow-up interview with the Associated Press on June 30, 2009, Sanford stopped short any developing sympathy when he called Argentinean mistress Maria Belen Chapur his &amp;quot;soulmate&amp;quot; and admitted to other, less love-driven affairs. The scandal has prompted a tell-all book from wife Jenny Sanford, who has since abandoned her supporting role. Image courtesy of ABCNews.Go.com.  "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.womansday.com/life/a1208/10-pathetic-public-apologies-102051/>