--- title: Shaun White Apologizes for Calling Sex Allegations 'Gossip' description: Olympic snowboarder Shaun White apologized for calling sexual harassment allegations against him "gossip" during a Today show interview canonical: https://time.com/5157437/shaun-white-sexual-harassment-allegations-response/ author: Jamie Ducharme article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-02-14T13:44:47.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T19:16:33.360Z article:section: Sports og:title: Shaun White Apologizes for Calling Sexual Harassment Allegations 'Gossip' og:description: 'It was a poor choice of words' og:url: https://time.com/5157437/shaun-white-sexual-harassment-allegations-response/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcd1598a3cff250eb/698927790a4a22edc99d1c2f/shaun-white.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Snowboard - Winter Olympics Day 4 og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Shaun White Apologizes for Calling Sexual Harassment Allegations 'Gossip' twitter:description: 'It was a poor choice of words' twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcd1598a3cff250eb/698927790a4a22edc99d1c2f/shaun-white.jpeg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Shaun White Apologizes for Calling Sexual Harassment Allegations 'Gossip'  by [Jamie Ducharme](/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Feb 14, 2018 1:44 PM CUT  Shaun White at the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games. Shaun White at the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games.Ryan Pierse—Getty Images  by [Jamie Ducharme](/author/jamie-ducharme/)  ## Jamie Ducharme Ducharme is a contributor to TIME. Feb 14, 2018 1:44 PM CUT Shaun White apologized Wednesday for calling sexual harassment allegations against him “gossip” shortly after he won his third Olympic gold medal. After 2016 [sexual misconduct accusations against White](http://time.com/5156699/shaun-white-sexual-harassment-lawsuit-olympics/?iid=sr-link3 "undefined") resurfaced in the lead up to the competition, [the snowboarder told reporters](https://twitter.com/TODAYshow/status/963746902884929536 "undefined") he was there to “talk about the Olympics not, you know, gossip.” He walked that statement back in an interview with Savannah Guthrie on the _Today_ show Wednesday. “I’m truly sorry that I chose the word ‘gossip,'” White said. “It was a poor choice of words to describe such a sensitive subject in the world today and I’m just truly sorry.” > [](https://twitter.com/TODAYshow/status/963757520044068865) “I was so overwhelmed with just wanting to talk about how amazing today was and share my experience,” he added, referring to [winning his historic third gold medal](http://time.com/5157000/shaun-white-gold-medal-olympics-snowboarding-run/ "undefined") in the snowboard halfpipe on Wednesday, a feat that brought home [the United States’ 100th-ever winter Olympic gold](http://time.com/5157237/shaun-white-united-states-gold-medals/ "undefined"). Lena Zawaideh, who was formerly a drummer in White’s [rock band Bad Things](https://www.si.com/olympic-snowboarding/2014/01/21/shaun-white-band-releases-first-album "undefined"), alleged in a 2016 lawsuit that White “repeatedly sexually harassed her and forced his authoritarian management style on her for over seven years.” White allegedly sent Zawaideh sexually explicit photos and videos, made sexual remarks toward her and directed her to wear revealing clothing, according to the lawsuit. White and Zawaideh reached a settlement in May 2017\. Their representatives did not immediately respond to TIME’s requests for comment on Tuesday, though White’s lawyers have previously denied the claims. “I’ve grown as a person over the years,” White said on _Today_ Wednesday. “It’s amazing how life works in twists and turns and lessons learned. Every experience in my life, I feel like it’s taught me a lesson. I definitely feel like I’m a much more changed person than I was when I was younger. I’m proud of who I am today.” > [](https://twitter.com/TODAYshow/status/963758070693269507) When asked about his Olympic legacy, White said he is “definitely not done” and even alluded to a possible second act: [skateboarding, which will make its summer Olympic debut in 2020](http://time.com/5127793/shaun-white-olympics-facts/ "undefined"). “I got big plans,” White said. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5157437/shaun-white-sexual-harassment-allegations-response/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5157437/shaun-white-sexual-harassment-allegations-response/"},"headline":"Shaun White Apologizes for Calling Sexual Harassment Allegations 'Gossip'","datePublished":"2018-02-14T13:44:47.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T19:16:33.360Z","description":"A lawsuit was filed against the gold medalist in 2016","url":"https://time.com/5157437/shaun-white-sexual-harassment-allegations-response/","keywords":["2018 Pyeongchang Olympics","Winter Olympics","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcd1598a3cff250eb/698927790a4a22edc99d1c2f/shaun-white.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Jamie Ducharme","jobTitle":"Ducharme is a contributor to TIME.","url":"https://time.com/author/jamie-ducharme/"}],"articleSection":"Sports","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltcd1598a3cff250eb/698927790a4a22edc99d1c2f/shaun-white.jpeg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Snowboard - Winter Olympics Day 4","caption":"Snowboard - Winter Olympics Day 4","creditText":"Ryan Pierse—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/sports/","name":"Sports"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/2018-pyeongchang-olympics/","name":"2018 Pyeongchang Olympics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5157437/shaun-white-sexual-harassment-allegations-response/","name":"Shaun White Apologizes for Calling Sexual Harassment Allegations 'Gossip'"}}]}] ```