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Rachel Uchitel arrives from New York at the Los Angeles International Airport in Los Angeles, Calif., on Sunday, Nov. 29, 2009. The National Enquirer published a story alleging that golfer Tiger Woods, who was involved in a car accident near his home on November 27, had been seeing the New York night club hostess, and that they recently were together in Melbourne, where Woods competed in the Australian Masters. (AP Photo/David Zentz)
The source behind the tip that destroyed the image of the highest-paid athlete in the world says she feared for her life.
Ashley Samson was the National Enquirer’s primary source who named Woods’ first alleged mistress, Rachel Uchitel. After that disclosure, an avalanche of 13 other alleged mistresses surfaced. Click here for the complete list and links.
Samson tells the Enquirer that she was offered $200,000 by Woods’ representatives to say that the story was not true. The Enquirer reports that it had to relocate Samson to a “hiding place” after the Uchitel story broke.
“They tried to destroy me,” she told the tabloid.
Samson said she and Uchitel were good friends but Uchitel says they barely knew each other. Samson said she even traveled to Spain with Uchitel and other friends. The Enquirer says Samson passed a lie detector test and the paper published at least one photo of the two partying together.
Uchitel denied the story for a week, then scheduled a press conference where she reportedly planned to admit the affair. She called off the press conference hours before it was supposed to happen. Her attorney, Gloria Allred, said it was for “unforeseen circumstances.”
The Enquirer reports Uchitel was given a $3 million payoff for her silence. But the Daily Beast reports that that amount was $5 million to be paid over several years, ensuring her silence while the payments continue to be made.
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Comments
interesting developments. Thanks Ed. Between Tiger Woods and his golf and scandals and the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, there's a lot going on in sport. I wrote notes on the World Cup event here that you are welcome to look at: http:(forward slash twice) www(dot)examiner(dot)com/examiner/x-29076-SF-World-Travel-Examiner~y2009m12d18-Traveling-to-South-Africa-for-World-Cup-2010
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