Serena Williams' attempt at damage control Tuesday may have spurred the opposite effect for her.
The world's No. 1-ranked female tennis player issued an apology on her website after her comments about a 16-year-old rape victim to Rolling Stone magazine became public a day earlier.
In her original comments, Williams wondered aloud in front of a Rolling Stone reporter whether the sentence two high school football players received for raping a drunk 16-year-old in what was known as "the Steubenville rape case" was fair.
Williams blamed the victim's parents for not educating their daughter better and then said the victim "shouldn't have put herself in that position ..."
An avalanche of criticism rolled over Williams for her remarks, prompting her to issue an apology on her website Tuesday.
The apology, however, angered several media outlets who claimed that it attempted to shirk all responsibility off Williams with the following excerpt:
"I am currently reaching out to the girl's family to let her know that I am deeply sorry for what was written in the Rolling Stone article. What was written - what I supposedly said - is insensitive and hurtful, and I by no means would say or insinuate that she was at all to blame."
Forbes magazine called Williams' apology a non-apology.
"The publicist or crisis manager drafting this deflects blame from Williams to ... not even to Rolling Stone or to Stephen Rodrick, the writer of the profile, but to some unfortunate, inanimate words on a page," Forbes contributor John McQuaid said. " 'What was written' is the new 'mistakes were made.' The statement also casts doubt on the quotes ('what I supposedly said'), without specifically denying she made them."
TMZ.com's reaction was terser.
"Williams issued a statement on her website -- in which she takes NO responsibility for the comments ... and suggests she may not have ever said them at all," it said. "The statement begs the obvious question -- DID YOU MAKE THE COMMENTS OR NOT??"
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