CNN Reporter Ripped for Tiger Comment

Andy Scholes

CNN’s Andy Scholes said Tuesday he was “not entirely surprised” by news Tiger Woods was involved in a car accident, leading to backlash online. Scholes has since apologized. The Wrap reports.

Asked by anchor Brianna Keilar for his response, the sports reporter said, “Stunned, I guess, but not entirely surprised by what we’re seeing here. Tiger, back in 2017, was found by police pulled over to the side of the road, asleep in his car. He had said he had taken a lot of painkillers at that time because we all know Tiger has undergone a lot of surgeries over the years and painkillers have become a part of his life.”

The single-car crash is under investigation, but L.A. Country Sheriff Alex Villanueva told reporters Tuesday afternoon that Woods was conscious and showed “no evidence of impairment” when he was pulled from the wreckage. The golfer underwent surgery Tuesday for “serious” injuries to both his legs, LACS officials said.

NFL social media producer Kylie Callura called the commentary “trash” while USA Today’s Hemal Jhaveri called it “irresponsible journalism.”

@AndyScholesCNN can you not at least give him the benefit of the doubt that he’s turned his life around and not on pain killers. But instead it is the first thing you bring up and say you aren’t shocked about his accident because of his past use of them pic.twitter.com/E8cFc70VEX

— shawn clounch (@shawn_clounch) February 23, 2021

Scholes apologized repeatedly and personally to a number of tweets referencing his on-air comments.

Woods was hospitalized on Tuesday after being injured in a single-car accident in Rancho Palos Verdes, California, when his rental car flipped over and sustained major damage.