As the winter Olympics continue, recent comments made by gold medal winner Shaun White managed to cause quite a stir and reminded many of a lawsuit between the Olympic snowboarder and the former drummer of his band Bad Things, Lena Zawaideh, that was settled last year. Not exactly the type of attention White was hoping for shortly after winning his “third Olympic gold medal in the men’s half pipe at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.” But what happened? Well, earlier this week while attending a news conference, White was asked about the lawsuit and whether he thought Zawaideh’s allegations of sexual misconduct “would tarnish his legacy.” In response, White replied, “You know honestly, I’m here to talk about the Olympics, not, you know, gossip. But I don’t think so.”
As the winter Olympics continue, recent comments made by gold medal winner Shaun White managed to cause quite a stir and reminded many of a lawsuit between the Olympic snowboarder and the former drummer of his band Bad Things, Lena Zawaideh, that was settled last year. Not exactly the type of attention White was hoping for shortly after winning his “third Olympic gold medal in the men’s half pipe at the PyeongChang Winter Olympics.” But what happened? Well, earlier this week while attending a news conference, White was asked about the lawsuit and whether he thought Zawaideh’s allegations of sexual misconduct “would tarnish his legacy.” In response, White replied, “You know honestly, I’m here to talk about the Olympics, not, you know, gossip. But I don’t think so.”
Even though White apologized later on by saying, “I’m truly sorry that I chose the word ‘gossip.’ It was a poor choice of words to describe such a sensitive subject in the world today,” the damage was done. In fact, Zawaideh’s lawyer Lawrance Bohm, fired back against the snowboarder, claiming White “minimized the problem in the United States by calling her allegations gossip.” Bohm added:
“Before Mr. White made his comment, Ms. Zawaideh believed that this matter was in the past, and she was happy to put the situation behind her so she can focus on her blossoming music career. Unfortunately, by his recent comments and conduct, Mr. White has minimized the problem of sexual harassment in this country.”
But why was the lawsuit filed against White in the first place? What kind of sexual misconduct did Zawaideh endure? For those who don’t know, the accusations against the Olympian began back in May of 2016 when the former drummer sued White and his company, “alleging breach of contract for lack of payment of her $3,750 monthly retainer from September 2013 until August 2014” when she was fired at “the end of their 2014 tour.” One of her major claims at the time was that she hadn’t been “paid for some of her work.”
Later, she added sexual harassment allegations to the lawsuit when she “switched attorneys and filed an amended complaint.” According to her new claims, White had “made vulgar sexual remarks to her and forced her to watch sexually disturbing videos, including videos sexualizing human fecal matter,” and even offered “screenshots of alleged text messages from White attached as exhibits” in the lawsuit. The amended complaint sought not only lost wages but punitive and compensatory damages as well.
Before the settlement was announced, White “vigorously contested the suit and tried to compel Zawaideh to undergo a mental health examination after she claimed she suffered emotional and mental distress because of what happened.”
Fortunately for White, Zawaideh’s legal team “filed a notice of unconditional settlement in the case and requested the case be dismissed.”
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