Shaun White 'Truly Sorry' For Calling Sexual Harassments Claims Against Him 'Gossip'

Snowboarder Shaun White broke a world record this Wednesday, February 14, by winning his fourth gold medal, in the 2018 Olympics. While the athlete is overjoyed with his incredible success, he is also facing backlash for an interview he did following his win, in which he dismissed allegations of sexual harassment by former bandmate Lena Zawaideh, as "gossip."

After his controversial speech at the Olympics news conference, White, 31, spoke to TODAY to clear the air and explain his comments.

"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 and I'm just truly sorry," the snowboarder told Savannah Guthrie.

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He claimed that he didn't think thoroughly about his word choice because he "was so overwhelmed with just wanting to talk about how amazing today was and share my experience."

As RadarOnline.com readers know, White was sued by his former band drummer in 2016, when she alleged that White "hides a darker, misogynistic personality." Zawaideh amended the lawsuit in August 2016 to include sexual harassment claims against the snowboarder.

Speaking of the backlash surrounding the incident, Guthrie, 46, asked the White if he learned something from the experience, to which he replied: "I've grown as a person over the years… every experience in my life I feel like it's taught me a lesson and I definitely feel like a much more changed person than I was when I was younger and I'm proud of who I am today."