"I embarrassed them"- Dana White gets candid on slapping his wife on New Year's Eve and its effect on his kids
Dana White recently opened up about his infamous New Year's Eve incident that went viral online and outlined how he dealt with the resulting fallout. The UFC CEO explained how important it was to own up to his mistakes, especially considering the incident's effect on his kids, and strive hard to do better moving forward.
For context, White and his wife were at a club in Cabo San Lucas on December 31, looking to celebrate the new year by reveling through the midnight hour. Unfortunately, things turned ugly post-midnight after the couple was filmed getting into a physical altercation while intoxicated, which ended with them exchanging slaps in public.
After videos of the incident went viral online, Dana White came under intense public scrutiny and was slammed by many for slapping his wife. Despite White issuing a heartfelt public apology, many pointed their social media pitchforks towards the UFC supremo for several weeks following the incident.
During a recent appearance on the Bussin' With The Boys podcast, Dana White recalled going through the incident's fallout and said:
"My New Year's Eve incident, f**king did it. F**king happened. No excuses. I could've tried to make up ten excuses, but there's no f**king excuse... At the end of the day, you have to live with you... You have to know who you are, and you have to be able to live with yourself. I have three f**king kids that I love more than anything, and I embarrassed them last New Year's Eve. I embarrassed me, and I embarrassed my kids."
Catch White's comments below (1:34:50):
When Dana White revealed how his eldest son reacted to his New Year's Eve incident
Dana White has been at the receiving end of social media outrage many times over his long career in the MMA promotion business. However, the period after the infamous New Year's Eve incident involving his wife was arguably the worst he's ever gotten.
White has made no secret that the viral incident affected his kids the most. Earlier this year, the UFC CEO revealed that his eldest son didn't talk to his parents for four days and shut them out completely.
In an interview with Piers Morgan, Dana White was asked if addressing the issue with the kids was the most challenging consequence to deal with. He replied:
"100%. I mean, everybody was acting like there needed to be some big apology to the world. No, the apology was to my kids. From me and my wife. Nobody wants to see their dumb, drunk parents slapping each other on TMZ... Our oldest son didn't talk to us for four days... The only apology that needed to be made was to our children."
Catch White's comments below (12:30):