Did Tiger Pull It Off?
BROOKE ANDERSON, HOST: Big news breaking right now on SHOWBIZ TONIGHT - did Tiger pull it off? Tonight, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT with the fired-up explosive fallout from Tiger Woods speaking publicly today for first time about his cheating scandal.</s>TIGER WOODS, GOLF CHAMPION: I was unfaithful. I had affairs. I cheated.</s>ANDERSON: Tonight, SHOWBIZ TONIGHT with the unanswered question - has Tiger saved his marriage?</s>WOODS: As Elin pointed out to me, my real apology to her will not come in the form of words.</s>ANDERSON: Plus, the unanswered questions after Tiger`s startling public revelations about his rehab. And the outrageous request today by a porn star who claims she had an affair with Tiger. Tonight, will Tiger Woods be named SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s most provocative celebrity of the week? Or will it be Jessica Simpson for her dramatic revenge on people who slammed her for her weight? Or is it director Kevin Smith for his too-fat-to-fly controversy? Plus, Simon Cowell speaks out about Howard Stern possibly replacing him. And Simon`s shocking pick to take over his job on "American Idol."</s>ANNOUNCER: TV`s most provocative entertainment news show starts right now.</s>ANDERSON: Hi there, everyone. I`m Brooke Anderson, coming to you from Hollywood. And tonight, Tiger`s remarkable tale. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT can tell you that there has been an unbelievable reaction to Tiger Woods coming out today to speak for the first time about his career and life meltdown, a meltdown that was triggered by his apparent one-time insatiable appetite for cheating on his wife. For some 13 minutes, Tiger told his tale. But tonight, I can tell you the applause he`s long been used to hearing was anything but deafening. SHOWBIZ TONIGHT can now reveal Tiger`s extraordinary and very personal revelations today left many more questions than answers. And it all made for big news breaking today.</s>WOODS: For all that I have done, I am so sorry.</s>ANDERSON (voice-over): When Tiger Woods faced cameras today for the first time since his cheating scandal exploded and as viewers around the world, from New York to Sweden to Thailand were glued to their TVs, the one point he seemed to want everyone to get is -</s>WOODS: I`m deeply sorry for my irresponsible and selfish behavior I engaged in.</s>ANDERSON: At his Florida appearance, Tiger spoke in front of an audience filled mostly with friends and family including his anguished-looking mother. His wife, Elin, was not there, but Tiger took full responsibility for cheating on her.</s>WOODS: I thought I could get away with whatever I wanted to. I felt I had worked hard my entire life and deserved to enjoy all the temptations around me. I was wrong. I was foolish.</s>ANDERSON: But Tiger says he`s getting help, confirming widespread reports that he`s getting in-patient therapy.</s>WOODS: It`s hard to admit that I need help, but I do.</s>LINDSAY POWERS, SENIOR EDITOR, "US WEEKLY": What`s interesting is he never said it was sex rehab or he was undergoing any kind of counseling. He basically said that he was just undergoing rehab to better himself and to work on his own issues.</s>ANDERSON: But while he confirmed the therapy reports, Tiger is shooting down other rumors that have swirled around him since the scandal broke. He denies taking performance-enhancing drugs and he angrily denied rumors that Elin assaulted him on the night of his Thanksgiving weekend car accident.</s>WOODS: There has never been an episode of domestic violence in our marriage, ever.</s>ANDERSON: And to all of those angry at Tiger for not taking questions and who want details about his infidelities, Tiger had another message - don`t hold your breath.</s>WOODS: Every one of these questions and answers is a matter between Elin and me.</s>ANDERSON: Almost the second after Tiger stepped down from the podium and hugged his mom, TV networks that were covering his apology as if it were a presidential address, suddenly exploded in debate. Some praised his remarks.</s>COOPER LAWRENCE, PSYCHOLOGIST: This is the best apology I`ve ever seen.</s>ANDERSON: Others bashed it as inauthentic.</s>UNIDENTIFIED MALE: It was what he has done all his career, "I`m controlling the agenda."</s>ANDERSON: But perhaps the strangest review of Tiger`s talk came all the way from California.</s>UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: He`s so selfish.</s>ANDERSON: Joslyn James, the ex-porn star, who claims she is one of Tiger`s ex-mistresses watched Tiger`s statement hand in hand with her attorney, Gloria Allred. And speaking to cameras almost the second Tiger was done, Joslyn apologized to Tiger`s wife and kids.</s>JOSYLN JAMES, ALLEGED MISTRESS OF TIGER WOODS: I`m so sorry for my part in any of their pain.</s>ANDERSON: And Joslyn actually believes Tiger owes her an apology as well.</s>JAMES: I`ve had to deal with a lot and too much from him and because of him.</s>POWERS: She is demanding an apology from Tiger Woods when really, you know, it takes two to tango.</s>ANDERSON: Tiger says he doesn`t know when he`s going back to golf but he says he is going back to his in-patient therapy.</s>WOODS: I have a long way to go, but I`ve taken my first steps in the right direction.</s>ANDERSON: Now, the big question is, was this statement the right step?</s>ANDERSON: Tiger Woods also said today he doesn`t know when he will play golf again and revealed he is going back into therapy immediately. And at the heart of the big debate that raged today were these questions - was his apology sincere and did anyone buy it? With me in Hollywood tonight, Tanika Ray, who is an entertainment journalist. And in Atlanta, Vinnie Politan who is a host for "In Session" on our sister network, Tru TV. All right, guys. I thought Tiger did a fine job. I thought he was effective, even though I did think he read every single word of his apology off a piece of paper. But I feel like he truly meant every word of what he read. Tanika, are you buying what he had to say?</s>TANIKA RAY, ENTERTAINMENT JOURNALIST: Now, you know, I`ve come in here many times and I`ve been the biggest critic for Tiger but - go Tiger! Team Tiger. I think he redeemed himself. I thought he was honest. I thought it was a man who really looked inward to see what his problems were. He knows he has a long way to go. And he`s willing to do the work and I applaud that - I applaud him for that.</s>ANDERSON: After the show, we`re going to make you a team Tiger t-shirt, Tanika.</s>RAY: I`m telling you - cheerleader. Woohoo!</s>ANDERSON: Hey, Vinnie. Do you agree? Do you think Tiger was sincere? Because personally, I wish that I had seen him go off the page just a little bit.</s>VINNIE POLITAN, HOST, "IN SESSION": Well, let me jut say, Brooke, that I believe Tiger was very sincere in the way that he spoke to the people today.</s>RAY: Oh, come on.</s>POLITAN: And I believe every word he said was from the bottom of his heart.</s>RAY: That`s not nice.</s>POLITAN: Come on, Tiger. Give me some of this. Give me some of this, Tiger. Give me some of this. You know the story. You lived it. You don`t need to read it. If he wants to put a couple notes on his hand, I`m fine with that. But come on, you have to read every single word -</s>RAY: Absolutely not. Do you understand how much money is riding on this? He would have picked the part -</s>POLITAN: It shouldn`t be about the money though.</s>RAY: Every single word that came of him.</s>POLITAN: It shouldn`t be about the money.</s>RAY: It shouldn`t be about the money. It should be about the feelings of his wife, his children - his wife, and the fact that - and his mother - and the fact that, you know, unfortunately, he has all of these fans are going to be riding on every single one of his words. So I thought it was a very smart -</s>POLITAN: It could be a sincere apology -</s>RAY: He`s a spiritual. He`s back to his base. I think it was a sincere apology.</s>POLITAN: It`s not sincere when he`s reading - who wrote the words?</s>RAY: I don`t agree with you.</s>POLITAN: Who wrote the words? Did he write the words? Did a scriptwriter write it?</s>ANDERSON: Yes. Well, you make a good point there, Vinnie -</s>POLITAN: His producer?</s>ANDERSON: Because there is no telling how many people had a hand in crafting that statement. I do wish there had been a little bit of adlibbing because that would have made</s>RAY: In a world -</s>ANDERSON: And I know he is very controlling.</s>RAY: Yes.</s>ANDERSON: And this is the person Tiger is. But the person Tiger is, is what got him into trouble to begin with.</s>RAY: You`re right. I know you think it`s controlling, but for me, I thought it is really smart because he mentioned his Buddhist upbringing. Buddhist is - a lot of that is about discipline. It`s about being focused. And I think he was right to mention that and that when he fell off- course his life kind of went wayward. And I think that`s a real big part of this discussion. And yes, he is a focused man. That is why he is so successful in golf. That`s why he`s been so successful in life. So he hit a bump in the road. Now, mind you - that was all 17 bumps at that.</s>ANDERSON: I know.</s>RAY: Those little speed bumps. Who thought I would be on Tiger`s side? But I really believe he made such a beautiful speech today. Yes, it was right off the page -</s>POLITAN: Beautiful?</s>RAY: But I do think he had all the right words.</s>POLITAN: It was robotic. It was cold. It was distant.</s>ANDERSON: I want to talk about -</s>RAY: It lacked a little soul, Vinnie. What do you want from the guy?</s>ANDERSON: I want soul next time. Tanika, I want soul. And I do want to talk about Tiger`s wife, Elin, because just like everybody else, I was waiting to see if she would show up. She did not. But Tiger did make brand-new revelations about Elin. He confirms he`s trying to save his marriage.</s>RAY: Yes.</s>ANDERSON: He says details of his affairs will remain between him and his wife.</s>RAY: Loved that.</s>ANDERSON: He also set the record straight about, you know, Elin and has she ever hit him. He adamantly says no way, there`s never been any abuse in their marriage, because there has been speculation she went after the guy with a golf club on that fateful Thanksgiving night. I think he had no choice but to address all of this.</s>RAY: Exactly.</s>ANDERSON: Tanika, what do you think? Did he have to address it?</s>RAY: Absolutely. The man has been quiet since this happened Thanksgiving Day. It could have gotten really ugly if he had just gone to the golf course and never said anything. I think he would have lost a lot of fans. I think he gained so many people`s respect today by going down the line and addressing each issue we`ve had over the last couple of months.</s>ANDERSON: Yes, we did.</s>RAY: He had to do it.</s>ANDERSON: He was very comprehensive. And right after his very public apology to his wife, she got another apology from one of his supposed ex- mistresses -</s>RAY: Oh, goodness.</s>ANDERSON: Former porn star, Joslyn James, on the news conference to say she was sorry for her alleged affair with Tiger. But her attorney said they are still looking for a personal apology from Tiger. You`ve got to check it out. Watch.</s>GLORIA ALLRED, ATTORNEY FOR JOSLYN JAMES: He did not apologize by name to my client, Veronica. And I ask why no apology. He must call her and better yet meet with her in person to apologize to her and explain why he lied to her over and over again.</s>ANDERSON: Vinnie, very quickly. Is this just nuts?</s>POLITAN: This is ridiculous. "Elin, hold on for a second. I`m speaking with Joslyn James. Joslyn, I`m so sorry. Elin, will you just leave me alone for a minute? I`ve got to talk to Joslyn here." Come on, it`s not going to happen. That would have to bring you down</s>ANDERSON: Yes. I`m thinking the chances that Tiger is going to apologize to this former porn star - the chance is slim and none.</s>RAY: Get over it, sister.</s>ANDERSON: And Tiger`s unbelievable public apology today definitely makes him a nominee to be named SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s most provocative celebrity of the week? But will Tiger take the top honor for what he did today? Or will it be Jessica Simpson for her dramatic revenge on people who slammed her for her weight? How about director Kevin Smith for his too-fat-to-fly controversy? Tanika Ray, Vinnie Politan, stay right there. We will be naming SHOWBIZ TONIGHT`s most provocative celebrity of the week. All right. We`ve got so much more Tiger Woods coverage tonight. But there are a lot of other big Hollywood stories just in today. Simon Cowell speaks out about who could replace him on "American Idol." I just asked Simon directly who he thinks it should be.</s>SIMON COWELL, "AMERICAN IDOL" JUDGE (through telephone): Well, you`re never going to pick anyone as good as you, are you?</s>ANDERSON: You`ve got to love him, right? Tonight, what he told me. His pick will shock you. Plus, what Simon says about all that talk that Howard Stern may replace him. And in the SHOWBIZ buzz today, big news for Lindsay Lohan and her DUI case, what kind of report card did she get from the judge? This is SHOWBIZ TONIGHT on HLN. And now, the "SHOWBIZ News Ticker" - more stories from the SHOWBIZ TONIGHT newsroom making news today.</s>TEXT: Sean Penn charged with criminal battery, tied into a run-in with a paparazzo. Leonardo DiCaprio to play Frank Sinatra in a movie by Martin Scorsese, but Leo won`t sing.