--- description: Donald Sterling, Paula Deen and Anthony Weiner all got it wrong title: Don't Say Sorry Like Anthony Weiner, Donald Sterling or BP CEO image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte3dad996afb81a25/69868fb91eebf77798370ecb/486996329.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [U.S.](/section/us/) ## U.S. Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # How Not to Say 'I'm Sorry' by [TIME Video](/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 15, 2014 9:50 PM CUT  Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling attends the NBA playoff game between the Clippers and the Golden State Warriors, April 21, 2014 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said April 26 that the NBA is investigating Sterling for alleged racist comments. AFP PHOTO / ROBYN BECK (Photo credit should read ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images) Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling attends the NBA playoff game between the Clippers and the Golden State Warriors, April 21, 2014 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said April 26 that the NBA is investigating Sterling for alleged racist comments. AFP PHOTO / ROBYN BECK (Photo credit should read ROBYN BECK/AFP/Getty Images)ROBYN BECK—AFP/Getty Images by [TIME Video](/author/time-video/) ## TIME Video Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close May 15, 2014 9:50 PM CUT Donald Sterling’s [recent apology](http://www.cnn.com/2014/05/12/us/donald-sterling-interview/ "undefined") to CNN’s Anderson Cooper [backfired](http://time.com/98443/apology-expert-gives-donald-sterling-a-c-grade/?utm%5Fsource=feedburner&utm%5Fmedium=feed&utm%5Fcampaign=Feed:%20time/topstories%20%28TIME:%20Top%20Stories%29 "undefined"). But he’s not the first high-profile person to flub an expression of contrition when everyone’s listening. From the CEO of BP after the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010 to former congressman Anthony’s Weiner (double) apology for tweeting crotch shots and otter embarrassing online exchanges in 2011, here’s a round up of how not to apologize. Because the only thing that gets you into bigger trouble than saying the wrong thing [is to keep saying it again and again.](http://time.com/100896/sterling-rubio-comments-worse/ "undefined") ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/101843/bad-apologies-video/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/101843/bad-apologies-video/"},"headline":"How Not to Say 'I'm Sorry'","datePublished":"2014-05-15T21:50:28.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T07:52:26.960Z","description":"Donald Sterling, Paula Deen and Anthony Weiner all got it wrong","url":"https://time.com/101843/bad-apologies-video/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte3dad996afb81a25/69868fb91eebf77798370ecb/486996329.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Video","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-video/"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blte3dad996afb81a25/69868fb91eebf77798370ecb/486996329.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"BKN-CLIPPERS-OWNER-DONALD STERLING","caption":"BKN-CLIPPERS-OWNER-DONALD STERLING","creditText":"ROBYN BECK—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/101843/bad-apologies-video/","name":"How Not to Say 'I'm Sorry'"}}]}] ```