"I don’t feel sorry for Andre Agassi because he revealed he was a lying cheat" - When Piers Morgan 'sympathized' with American amid drugs confession
British journalist Piers Morgan once disclosed why he could sympathize with Andre Agassi in light of the tennis legend's shocking revelation about his deliberate crystal meth use. Although Morgan criticized Agassi's decision to make the confession in his memoir as a "mercenary" move to earn more money, he expressed understanding for the American's struggles.
Agassi dropped a bombshell in his 2009 autobiography 'Open,' admitting that he had lied to the ATP about his positive drug test for crystal meth in 1997. While the eight-time Grand Slam avoided a ban by claiming that he had "unwittingly" consumed a drug-laced soda, he divulged in his memoir that his letter to the ATP was "filled with lies" and that he had intentionally experimented with the substance at the time.
In a 2009 column for the Daily Mail, Piers Morgan weighed in on Andre Agassi's admission of "shamelessly lying" about his crystal meth use. He also shared his thoughts on the former World No. 1's explanation that the "tormented strains" of being a tennis star had led to his "moment of insanity."
"Then up pops Andre Agassi to reveal he snorted crystal meth, shamelessly lied about it to save his career and always hated tennis anyway," Morgan said. "He gave a fascinating insight into the particularly tormented strains of being a sporting superstar that consumed his head leading up to that spontaneous moment of insanity."
The Brit asserted that, as a newspaper editor, he had little sympathy for "overpaid, arrogant, and pampered" athletes. However, since becoming a TV personality and performing in front of live audiences, he had begun to empathize with the difficulties they endured.
"In my former incarnation as a newspaper editor, I had little sympathy for sporting stars, whom I viewed as overpaid, arrogant, pampered, often spectacularly dim and the biggest whingers outside of politicians bleating about taxpayers not paying for their moat-cleaning any more," he said.
"But in my new life as a ‘TV personality’, I’ve been exposed to some of the peculiarly unique pressure that comes with performing to live audiences all the time," he added.
Piers Morgan emphasized that while certain sportsmen were "genuinely vile," he believed that Andre Agassi was among the "decent" lot. He clarified that he didn't feel sorry for the American's self-confessed idiocy or the fact that he had finally come clean as a "lying cheat," but because the Brit had gained a better understanding of the pressure athletes faced under the spotlight.
"But many are pretty decent people. And I’d include Andre Agassi in that category. I don’t feel sorry for him because he’s suddenly decided to reveal he was a lying drugs cheat. He was an idiot, as he admits himself," Morgan said.
"And confessing all this now to flog a few books and make a few quid seems a little mercenary to me. But I do now have a better idea of what made him go a little bit mad. And as a consequence, I can empathise and sympathise," he added.
"Andre Agassi lied and got away with it... He beat people when he should have been suspended" - Martina Navratilova on American legend's drug use
Martina Navratilova was less understanding than Piers Morgan regarding Andre Agassi's revelation about his crystal meth use. In a 2009 phone interview from Florida, Navratilova expressed her shock at the American's decision to lie about his drug test instead of telling the truth at the time.
The 18-time Grand Slam champion emphasized that Agassi's deception had allowed him to evade a ban, which was unfair to the players he had defeated during that period.
"Shocking. Not as much shock that he (Andre Agassi) did it as shock he lied about it and didn't own up to it," Navratilova said. "He owned up to it [in the book], but it doesn't help now."
"Andre lied and got away with it. You can't correct that now. Do you take away a title he wouldn't have won if he had been suspended? He beat some people when he should have been suspended."
Andre Agassi, for his part, has explained that he turned to crystal meth as an "escape" after becoming depressed and realizing that he no longer wanted to be married to his first wife, actress Brooke Shields.