Michael Phelps’ agents did a big belly-flop when they tried to stop a British newspaper from running a photo of the super-swimmer smoking pot by offering to have Phelps write a column, public-relations pros said yesterday.
“When they went and tried to do this scammy, sleazy deal-making or cover-up, that was the disgraceful part, not that a kid was sucking on a bong,” said Linda Mann of Mann Media.
The News of the World published a photo Sunday of Phelps toking from a water pipe at a South Carolina college party last November. The tabloid reported that Phelps’ handlers from marketing giant Octagon tried to kill the piece by saying he would pen a column for the paper for three years.
“The newspapers love the cover-up more than the actual story, so when they offered the quid pro quo, [the News of the World] just got two stories for the price of one,” said Michael Maslansky, whose research firm, Luntz, Maslansky, focuses on crisis communication.
Octagon said in a statement, “The characterization of the conversation between Octagon and News of the World is misleading . . . We have no intention of getting into a shouting match with a tabloid.”
Several sponsors – Omega, Speedo, PureSport and Hilton – said yesterday they would continue contracts with the Olympic star,
Meanwhile, swimming legend Mark Spitz, whose gold-medal record was broken by Phelps last summer, told Us Magazine he feels sympathy for the new champ. “As strictly a fan, I feel badly for Michael and the situation he has put himself in,” he said.