November 13, 2029—Michael Phelps’ upcoming autobiography contains a shocking admission that he never actually used illegal drugs during his storied career in competitive swimming.
According to an excerpt of the autobiography, “Wet,” published today in Googlenews.com, the 14-time Olympic gold medalist says he actually leaked a fake photo to a British tabloid in 2009 showing him using a bong to smoke marijuana (then a controlled substance). USA Swimming subsequently suspended him from swimming for three months.
“I thought I could eventually sell more copies of my memoirs if I had a blemish on my image that I could talk about in detail,” Phelps confesses. “I figured people would want to read about how ashamed and humiliated I was.”
He said he later sent a letter to USA Swimming admitting that he faked the photo for money-making purposes, but that the organization ignored his confession because it wanted to convince the public that it was cracking down on illegal drug use in the sport.
Retired tennis pro Andre Agassi, who wrote a 2009 autobiography in which he admitted to illegal drug use during his career, issued a statement sharply criticizing Phelps.
“I think Michael has learned that over the years that celebrities who admit to past drug use—myself, LeBron James, Bill Clinton—are a dime a dozen,” Agassi said. “So he’s decided to cash in by claiming to have faked bad behavior instead of actually having engaged in it. To me he’s right up there with [actor] David Duchovny.”
Agassi was referring to longstanding rumors that Duchovny lied about being a recovering sex addict back in 2008 in order to boost ratings for his TV show, “Californication,” in which he played a sex addict.
